Never As It Seems
by FitchSwitch
Summary: AU. Naomi Campbell liked being a loner. But a horrible night and a fortunate meeting with a certain redhead and she decides that maybe friendship and love isn't so overrated. Naomi should be careful though. Not everything is as it seems. Naomily.
1. All I Ever Wanted

**A/N: I started to think about writing Skins fanfic and I said to myself, I said "Self. Start small. Don't go too overboard with the AU ideas. You want people to like you." I guess this just monumentally shows that I never, ever listen to myself. That being said, I have never written Skins fanfic before in my life. I only hope my love for them on screen translates onto the page and I do them justice. This is un-beta'd so any and all mistakes are mine. Reviews are welcome, constructive criticism is always fun. Haters to the left. Flames will immediately be rolled up into fireballs and thrown back at their writers.**

**Bit of a trigger warning for this first chapter: physical attack and near rape. It's the only time it happens in this story and it's not very graphic but I felt like I should put this in here just in case.+**

**This is filed under "Romance" and "Mystery" but its also Humor, Drama, and a healthy splash of Supernatural. You've been warned.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Skins. If I did Emily Fitch would be in every episode ever for the rest of eternity.**

* * *

The club was stifling; too hot and too sweaty by half, with too many pervy guys and handsy drunks. Naomi had really only agreed to come for the band, but they had given over to the DJ almost an hour ago. She'd lost the guy she came here with and had no particular urge to find him again.

_Fuck it_, she thought grumpily. She downed her next shot, left money on the bar, and headed for outside. Her journey to the door was uneventful, mostly because her scowl kept away any pricks who got it in their heads to approach her. She smiled at the bouncer though. He went to her college and always had a big, genuine smile for everyone. She was pretty sure his name was Thomas.

"Hello, hello," he let people in with a wave and a smile. He grinned when he saw her. "You are leaving. Be safe, yes? Would you like a cab?"

"No thank you, Thomas," she said, carefully quashing her annoyance at the insinuation that she couldn't take care of herself. _Chrissake, Naomi, he's only being nice._ "See you on Monday."

He didn't look too happy but he had work to do. Naomi slipped past him without another word and into the night. It was much better outside. The air was cleaner and fresh, crisp with the smell of rain from the storm earlier in the day. Cold, though. The girls in the line were complaining loudly while their boyfriends ignored them. Naomi had a feeling Thomas was letting the most scantily clad in not because he was being pervy, but to prevent an outbreak of hypothermia. She smirked at the thought.

She was all set to head home when she saw them on the curb, smoking and laughing and obviously waiting for Thomas to come out and notice them. Naomi knew them from Roundview. Of course she did, the six of them were inseparable at the college and not a little bit notorious. More than once Naomi had caught herself looking across the hall or in a classroom and envying them, not for their popularity, but for their closeness.

_Oh boo hoo_, a little voice in the back of her mind said scathingly. _You're a loner! You like being a loner, remember? Get over yourself, Campbell._

Still she found herself watching them for a few more seconds. Party boy Cook was laughing loudly about something. As she watched he reached out and ruffled shy little JJ's hair. JJ made a face and shoved the hand away but he was smiling. The quirky girl she thought was called Panda stood on her tiptoes and tried to see the front of the line, her mouth moving the whole time. She seemed to be talking to Effy Stonem, who was beautiful and enigmatic and as always slowly working away on a cigarette. Skater Freddie shrugged off his jacket and placed it around Effy's shoulders. She gave him a small smile and kissed him affectionately on the cheek.

Then Effy turned around and locked eyes with Naomi. Two wildly different shades of blue waged war momentarily.

_Fuck!_ she broke and looked away first. Effy's knowing glare unnerved her. _Way to be creepy, Naomi,_ she thought. She fought the embarrassment that was threatening to creep up. _Stare at them like a weirdo for a little longer why don't you._

She doubled back to the front of the line, still angry with herself, and caught Thomas' eye.

"Your friends are here," she told him quickly.

Thomas motioned for another bouncer to take his place and was about to say something to her. Naomi left before the words finished forming on his lips. She was done with interaction and good deeds for the night. Done with people, full stop. She had to pass the five of them on the corner on the way home. She did it without making eye contact, keeping her gaze glued to the pavement and nowhere else.

Once she was out of their sight she fumbled around in the pocket of her jeans for her mobile and flipped it open. A missed call from her Mum; she called home and left a message when it rang through. And, just for good measure so she wouldn't walk in on something a daughter should never walk in on (again), she sent off a text.

**Night was a bust. Be home in ten. xNx**

"Hey baby girl."

The voice was sleazy and came from one of the two guys sitting on a low wall nearby. They were smoking and drinking, and the one who had spoken was watching her with narrow shifty eyes.

She ignored them steadfastly.

"Hey. Hey!"

The sound of shuffling behind her, and a rough hand grabbed her arm.

"Is impolite to not answer somebody when they're talkin' to you, girlie." The man with the shifty eyes whipped her around. His friend was still on the wall. As Naomi looked at him he took a swig of his beer and winked.

The fear came suddenly and settled like ice in the pit of her stomach.

"I'm not interested," she told him. For a ridiculous moment she felt proud of how steady she kept her voice.

"No need to be rude," Shifty-Eyes said. "I was just bein' nice. Wasn't I just bein' nice, Leeds?" He didn't let go of her arm.

"Mikes was just being nice," the man on the wall, Leeds, agreed. Though Mikes was the one holding her, it was Leeds with his calm smirk and his cold eyes that scared her.

"Let me go," she demanded, but her voice shook horribly.

Mikes smiled. "Just having some fun, babes, relax-"

"I said do it now!" she shrieked. When he still didn't move she reached around and jabbed her thumbnail into the soft part of the inside of his wrist.

Mikes yelped sharply and cradled his injured hand. He looked pissed but he retreated back to the wall. "Psycho bitch!"

Leeds was laughing, but his eyes were bright with something she didn't want to think about. She crossed the street quickly, leaving Leeds and his horrible laughter echoing behind.

She made it three buildings. She hadn't even heard him but suddenly Leeds was behind her, grabbing her roughly, hiking up her tee to run a hand over her stomach. She opened her mouth to scream and he clamped his free hand down, muffling her cries.

Naomi thought she had been scared before. But this, this pure helplessness, this was true fear.

It barely registered when he pulled her into a nearby alley. Distantly she could hear Mikes laughing and, even more distantly, the thump of the music. Her mind screamed with fear, but one thought broke through. _The club. The club, the club, the club._ It was only around the corner. So close. Help was so close.

Her train of thought was shattered when he threw her against the wall and down to the concrete. For a moment his presence was gone and Naomi could breathe. She opened her mouth for the most important scream of her life and it was smothered out of her when he pressed his body weight on her again.

Noise erupted at the end of the alley and Leeds froze above her. Naomi kicked, then. Kicked and punched and scratched. She twisted her head around to look towards the noise and her blossoming hope popped. A stray dog had knocked over a trash bin. Leeds grunted and started pawing at her clothes.

Naomi upped her fight again but he was bigger, stronger, and she was losing strength. She bit his hand when he tried to take off her tee and he smacked her so hard her head swam.

She was so disoriented she didn't even notice when his weight was suddenly yanked away. All she knew was that she could breathe freely again, and breathe she did. Great, shuddering breaths that held the hysteria at bay, but she was still too weak with fear to move.

Her hearing came back next, and the greatest noise she'd ever heard was Leeds bellowing in pain. She looked for her savior and found the stray dog.

It was small and thin, and it had Leeds by the arm and was dragging him away for her. Its angry snarls rumbled up and down alley. Leeds twisted to try and punch at it, and Naomi finally - finally - filled the air with her scream. The murmurs of voices from the club paused, and then picked up again, and Naomi almost cried.

_Run,_ her mind urged. _Jesus Christ, run!_

Naomi found her feet at last. Behind her the dog yelped painfully. She didn't have to stop to know that her little defender had been taken out. She reached the opening of the alley.

Her hair was yanked back with force, and she yelled again. This time it was louder. It had more strength. It traveled. He threw her to the ground and her head smacked onto the street with a wet thud. Immediately the world went fuzzy and indistinct.

She saw the dog then. It was cowering and bleeding behind a box. It took a step towards her and its front leg collapsed underneath it. No more help there. The urge to cry and scream grew, but the feelings lodged in her chest. The dog looked at her, whimpered, and then threw its head back and howled for all it was worth. There. That was all the help that was coming from there. The thumping from the club sounded like thunder now.

She curled into a ball and covered her head with her hands as Leeds loomed menacingly. He was hurt, and angry, and he was ready to kill her. He had just knelt down and grabbed the front of her tee when she realized the sound she thought was thunder wasn't the club at all. It was footsteps racing up the street towards where she was.

The burst of adrenaline hit like wildfire and she started screaming. "_HERE_." Leeds lunged forward to shut her up again. "_HERE!_" He raised his arm to hit her again but someone grabbed him around the shoulders and dragged him off of her. Whoever it was they were pissed and the sound of fighting increased.

Someone touched her arm and Naomi recoiled violently. The urge to cry grew stronger, and she didn't know how much longer she could hold off the tears. Her eyes screwed closed with the effort to keep them at bay.

"Naomi, no. It's okay. It's okay, it's us. You're going to be all right now." The voice was vaguely familiar but far away, like something out of a dream. The owner of the voice brushed her hair back. "It's okay, Naomi. Cook's got him. He's not going anywhere."

_Cook?_ She opened her eyes and looked towards the noise. The party boy wasn't laughing anymore. Whenever she had ever seen him he had been laughing, but now his face was violent. A study in rage. Leeds was pinned beneath him and didn't look like he was going to move anywhere anytime soon.

Leeds locked eyes with her and smirked. She shrank back and Cook knocked Leeds' head into the ground. "I wouldn't do that," Cook snarled. "She says the word and I beat you so bloody you'll wish I killed you instead. Fookin' bastard."

He was dead serious. Naomi had never seen someone so angry in her defense. A little of the fear went away; then Leeds looked at her again and she shuddered.

Arms surrounded her and held her tight. "Naomi, don't look at him."

She fought through the fog in her mind to look at who was hugging her. Effy Stonem was smiling at her, and it wasn't even one of her mysterious 'Fuck-you-I'm-fit-and-mysterious' smiles.

"How - what - I don t -" The disorientation was almost too much and the back of her head throbbed with every beat of her heart.

"We were standing on the corner, remember?" Effy explained quietly. There was more scuffling going on behind them. Naomi had the distinct feeling that Effy was trying to distract her. "When Thomas came out to get us we heard you scream. We almost couldn't find you, but the dog startled howling."

"Not," she tried to shake her head, but the side to side motions just sent the world tilting again. "How do you know my name?"

Effy stared at her for a long moment, then her face morphed from worry to relief. If she was anyone other than Effy Stonem, she probably would have laughed. "You're not as invisible as you like to believe you are."

The noises she kept hearing behind them morphed into sirens and Effy moved out of the way for the paramedics. Through all the following lights and voices, Naomi heard only one thing clearly: a soft whimper. She was already up on the stretcher and being hauled into the back of the ambulance but she threw her arms out to stop them from moving.

"Effy!" The brunette appeared at her side as if she had never left. Naomi focused, really focused on Effy's face. "The dog-"

Thomas was already moving before she had finished talking. He knelt down in front of the boxes and started talking in a low, soothing voice. For a second she panicked because she couldn't understand him, but then realized he was speaking French, murmuring and coaxing the little thing out. The dog limped over and allowed him to pick it up and place it carefully on the stretcher next to her.

The closest paramedic looked shocked. "You can't do that."

"That dog saved her life," Effy said simply. She stared at him until he crumbled under the power of her glare and nodded. They loaded the stretcher, dog and all, into the ambulance.

When the doors closed, Naomi finally let herself pass out.

* * *

**So that's chapter one! God, I hope it wasn't complete shit. Was it complete shit? Anyway, you're probably asking 'But wait, FS! Wherever is Emily?' And to that I say (tacky mysterious voice) good question...**

**Using music to convey messages a lot in this story. The title of the story is from "Fireflies" by Owl City. The title of the chapter is from "All I Ever Wanted" by Basshunter and if you really want to know how I wrote the alley scene hop on up and listen to "Damaged" by Plumb, which is what I was listening to when I wrote it. **

**Till next time, cheers! ~FS**


	2. Sink or Swim

**A/N: Three things. 1) Thank you to everyone that reviewed, favorited, and alerted this story. You guys kind of make my life. 2) I have a friend who reads this who asked me if I threw the dog in just because I could. The answer to that is no, the dog has a few very important roles besides being adorable, one of which plays out in this chapter. 3) About halfway through this chapter I thought to myself "What the HELL am I doing?" I'm about 1/3 of the way through Chapter 3 as we speak and it's kind of up to you guys**: **Continue or don't? Again this is un-beta'd so any mistakes are mine.  
**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Skins the movie would be all Naomily, all the time. I don't. Unfortunately.  
**

* * *

Her dreams weren't very distinct. They were mostly filled with fuzzy noise and fractured color. Occasionally the odd memory would make an appearance. She was pretty sure she actually regained consciousness once or twice because she recalled a dark room and voices. But the room had not held her attention and the voices were too muffled to make out without serious effort. There was something leaning against her leg, but she couldn't be bothered to turn her head and check. The world began to drift away again and she let it.

* * *

It was the incessant beeping that finally woke her up. It was loud and close and _annoying as fuck_. Her head hurt like someone had poured rocks into her ear and gave them a good rattle. Okay the date had been shit, but she didn't recall drinking enough to be _this _hungover.

For five blissful seconds she didn't remember where she was. And then the knowledge came rushing back. Naomi turned over and immediately threw up into a bucket on the floor beside her hospital bed. The young nurse who had been checking her vitals was so startled she squeaked and dropped her clipboard.

"You're awake! Wonderful. I'll get the doctor," she said nervously. She looked a bit queasy to be honest and she scurried for the door like her scrubs were on fire.

Naomi moaned and grabbed onto the railing of her bed. "Useless twat."

She pulled herself back up and laid her head back gratefully. The cool pillowcase felt wonderful against her overheated body. Her head still hurt, but now the pain was concentrated more on a spot at the back of her skull. Gentle probing with her fingers uncovered a bandage back there. Everything else seemed to be in its correct place, though.

The weight on her leg shifted and then someone sneezed mightily. Naomi jumped and looked down towards the end of the bed. She took in the sight for a long moment and blinked once or twice to check her eyes.

"Hello there," she said out loud. For a minute it didn't even sound like her voice. She sounded soft and affectionate. It was quite a large deviation from her norm.

The little stray sneezed again and then wagged its tail happily when Naomi smiled at it. It barked once, quietly, as if it knew that its continued place here depended upon good behavior. It had a bandage on its right front leg but besides that her little protector looked good as new. Quite a bit better, actually. Someone had obviously taken the time to feed it and give it a bath.

Naomi heard her mother before she actually saw her. Gina was talking rather loudly on her phone when she entered the room but hung up immediately when she saw Naomi was awake and rushed over to her bedside. She let her Mum fuss over her for a few minutes but it quickly got annoying.

"I said I'm fine," she snapped when Gina asked her for the fifth time how she was feeling.

Gina was unaffected by the grumpiness. "Of course you're fine, dear. You were attacked in a corner alley and are, as we speak, lying in the hospital with a mild concussion. Why would I think you weren't okay. How silly of me."

_Oh. So that s where my sarcasm comes from._ Naomi took a long look at her mother then and noticed the strained lines on her face and the dark circles under her eyes; her mother had been scared and worried and now Naomi felt guilty.

"Right, well," she huffed as a way of apology, crossing her arms to stave off the unwanted emotion. "Said its mild, right? What'd you get?"

"What? Oh," Gina looked down at the bag in her hand and grinned at her daughter. "Few things for the hero of the hour. Thought we'd need them." She lifted a collar and some toys out of the bag and the stray immediately took interest. The dog bobbed its head a little and moved the toys around with its nose as if it was saying _'These are for me, right?'_

Naomi tried to hide her shock and failed quite spectacularly. "We're keeping it? But you don't like dogs," she said quietly. Of course she had wanted to keep the dog, felt like she owed it a cushy life and all the table scraps it could eat for eternity, but her mother agreeing had been so far out of the question that she wasn't even going to bring it up.

Gina at least had the grace to look embarrassed and instead of meeting her daughter s eyes she turned and started scratching the stray behind the ears. "Yes, well, I recently discovered I like dogs quite a bit you know?" She looked at the dog and rubbed at her eyes. "Anyway. She needs a name, don't you think?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," Naomi stuttered.

"One of the nurses here called her a red merle Border Collie," Gina said decisively.

"Just because it has the word collie in it, I want to let you know that if you suggest Lassie we re no longer related," Naomi said firmly.

Gina laughed.

* * *

It took three days for her mum to get tired of Naomi s moping around. The teenager had spent most of those three days in bed alternating between listening to music, doing the coursework that her politics-teacher-slash-mother's-boyfriend had thoughtfully brought home, and being grumpy.

Naomi jumped when the door to her room burst open without warning. "Mum!" she shouted, "what the actual fuck?"

Gina stomped over and grabbed the copy of _Heat_ she had been flipping through. "How are you feeling, dear?" she asked a little too sweetly.

"Fine," Naomi said. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Will you give me my mag back now?"

"No. Kieran is over and we ordered in. I'll see you downstairs in five minutes."

"Um, no?" Naomi made a grab for her magazine but Gina had the advantage of height.

"Um, yes," Gina said firmly. "You're done wafting around like a twat up here. Get out of those clothes and come downstairs to eat dinner like a civilized person. And tomorrow you're going back to college."

Naomi stared, slack-jawed, as her mother rolled the _Heat_ magazine carefully under her arm and walked out. She jumped out of bed and ran over to the door. "Who are you and what have you done with my mother?" she demanded.

Her mum didn't even turn around, just waved the magazine and said "Five minutes!"

She huffed and grumbled but actually the thought of getting out of her room and eating dinner at the table held a certain appeal. She'd never admit it to her mother but she was getting just as annoyed with herself, to be honest.

And okay, it did feel nice to get out of her pajamas and into some regular clothes even if it was just a pair of jeans and her white 'love music' tee. She caught a glimpse of her reflection as she passed her mirror on the way to the door and she stopped to give herself a once-over. Pale skin, shoulder-length peroxide blond hair that was starting to curl a bit, blue eyes. The only remnant left from her ordeal was a scratch just above her temple that was halfway towards healing already.

Speaking of healing...she looked back over at the bed. "You coming?"

Ellie uncurled herself from the end of the bed and stretched, yawning so massively it obscured her face for a moment and made her look a bit like a fox. She was a medium-sized dog, the top of her head came about halfway to Naomi s thigh and even though she was called a red merle she was actually white with lots of brown and cream splotches. Naomi had named her after a singer she particularly enjoyed.

The gash on her leg hadn't been quite as bad as Naomi first thought. The dog didn't even wear the bandage anymore and demonstrated just how much better it was feeling by jumping off the bed and nuzzling Naomi s hand.

It wasn't that Naomi went everywhere with her dog nowadays it was just..._I'm not scared_, she thought fiercely. _He's in jail. Mum and I talked my feelings out about what happened. I'm fine._

'I'm fine'. Two words she seemed to be repeating a lot lately.

They jogged down the stairs together and Ellie sniffed the air hopefully. Naomi laughed. "If it's Thai I'll make sure to sneak you some," she promised.

It was. Her mum had already set out plates for the three humans and pretended not to notice that only every other bite of food was actually going into Naomi's mouth. They kept the conversation light and casual for the most part, but when it turned to Naomi going back to school the next day Kieran smacked himself in the forehead.

"I'm a twat," he growled, and then made a rude gesture at her when Naomi laughed and agreed. "I was meant to tell you your friends have been asking after you."

Naomi's fork froze halfway to her mouth. _Friends?_ Naomi didn't have friends. Acquaintances, people she talked to in class, people she worked with on projects, yes. Not friends. Not people who would wonder where she was or if she was okay.

Kieran must have caught her frown because he kept on. "The Stonem girl and her lot, you know? Two or three of them ask me at least twice a day. And since when, can someone fucking inform me, is me dating your mum common knowledge?"

She shrugged and abandoned her forkful of Thai. Ellie snapped it up eagerly. "It's Effy Stonem," she said, and made a vague hand gesture, "she knows everything."

Kieran guffawed and tucked back in to his food. Her Mum, on the other hand, was looking at her with an unreadable expression.

"If you're all done eating, love, why don't you take Ellie for a walk? Fresh air might do you both a bit of good," Gina suggested.

Naomi nodded quickly and went to grab her jacket and the dog s leash. The cool late September air felt wonderful and cooled the fires on her skin as she and her pup made their way towards the nearby park. That lot had asked about her? Had seemed genuinely concerned for her well-being? It was a new and frightening concept, and not one she felt she was quite prepared to deal with. Still the thought that they had checked to make sure she was okay sent a pleasant warmth through her bones.

They reached the edge of the park and suddenly Ellie's leash jerked out of her hands. She wasn't prepared and almost fell from the abrupt shift in her balance, since just seconds before Ellie had been straining the leash to its maximum trying to sniff everything. Her dog was off like a shot towards an indistinct group of people lounged on the ground, and Naomi took off after her.

"Are you kidding me?" she yelled as she watched her dog jumped up and knocked one of the people sitting on the ground flat onto their back. Naomi groaned, visions of police reports dancing through her mind.

But then she heard the laughter, and one laugh in particular was so distinctive that it left no doubt who the group of people sharing a spliff on the lawn were.

Freddie smiled lazily up at her as she approached. "Naomi!" he held up the spliff and winked. "Care to join?"

"I've never -" she caught herself before admitting she d never smoked a joint before. "Ellie, down!" Her dog ignored her and continued to keep Cook pinned and began licking his face enthusiastically.

"You don't have to," Effy said. It was so quiet Naomi was sure she wouldn't have heard if Effy hadn't been sitting right at her feet. "But sit anyway. You kept the dog I see."

Naomi lowered herself carefully into the empty space between Effy and Panda. "Regretting the decision about now," she grumbled under her breath. "_Ellie_!"

"S'alright Blondie," Cook laughed. He sat up and pushed her dog off. "We're buds, innat right little girl?" Ellie barked and Cook laughed again and scratched her behind the ears.

Effy wrapped her lips around the spliff and inhaled deeply, then overreached Naomi and passed it to Panda. Naomi liked that Effy didn't make a big deal about her not wanting to smoke. As the spliff made its way around the group she noticed it over-passed JJ without comment as well. They were sat on a particular spot that overlooked the entire city of Bristol beneath them and the sun was just setting behind the buildings; it set the whole sky on fire with color.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Effy asked. She was smirking at her again. Naomi had the feeling she was going to have to get used to that smirk. "We come here every day around this time. It's...comfortable."

The words held a hidden meaning in the same vein as Freddie offering up the spliff. It was an invitation. _Here_, were the words behind the words, _come be with us. The broken bits of us fit with the broken bits of you. It doesn't hurt so much, together._

She looked around the group: Panda and Cook were showering affection all over her blissed-out dog, Thomas and JJ were in a low but seemingly heated discussion about what she thought was the newest _Star Trek_ movie, Freddie hummed quietly as he flicked through the music they were listening to. And Effy just watched her with that smirk; she knew Naomi had heard the words behind the words and was waiting patiently for a reply.

Naomi smirked back. "Yeah," she said. "It is."

* * *

**A/n: The lack of Emily in this chapter is _blasphemous. _I am _thoroughly ashamed_ of myself. Good thing I already know she's in the next chapter XD. The song title is from "Sink or Swim" by Tyrone Wells. **


	3. It's Like Electricity

**A/N: Hey everybody! Sorry for the late update, I meant to get this up sooner but all my professors decided to give projects at once so I was swamped all week. Never go to uni! (Just kidding, stay in school kids) Thanks again to everyone who reviewed and favorited and alerted and all that jazz, you guys are seriously awesome. Again, this is un-beta'd. Also, remember this is a mystery so look for clues and don't count anything out cause I'm a Lost fan so...I know how to do mystery :)  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Skins, I just babysit sometimes.  
**

* * *

If you had told her two weeks ago that on Friday morning she would be sitting in the common room during her free period walking Pandora Moon through the finer points of Hamlet, Naomi Campbell would have laughed in your face. Now, however, she just impatiently turned a few pages back and started again.

"I'm sorry, Naomi. It's just there's a whacker load of speeches in here!" Panda exclaimed. She ran her finger up and down the lines of the famous To Be or Not To Be section. "How do you keep them all straight? And was it the ghost that did it? Or was it Voldemort? He s a right beast inne?"

"Panda, stop it," Naomi snapped and Pandora fell into hurt silence.

Naomi felt like hitting herself. _Iron control, you got there Campbell. It's Panda. _"I'm sorry, Panda. I'm just tired."

"You don't have to help me, it's all right. JJ's probably done with his by now and -" Panda shuffled her feet and started to get up but Naomi grabbed her sleeve and pulled her back into her seat.

"I said I'd help, didn't I?" she forced a smile. "It's not the speeches you have keep straight it's what he says in them."

"But I don't know what he's saying in them," Panda said. Naomi knew her irritation showed because Panda s face crumbled. "I'm sorry, Naomi. I'm useless."

A little of her anger and irritation melted away. It was hard to really _stay _mad at Pandora. "No, Panda, you're not useless. I'll tell you what he's saying, okay? And you can write little notes in the margin so you won't forget."

Panda brightened and a half hour later they had gotten through all the acts Josie had assigned for next class. When they were done she jumped to her feet, all pigtails and bright colors, and threw her arms around Naomi. "Thanks, Naoms. You're a super good teacher! Maybe now I'll keep my grades up, get a few As and maybe my toes'll stop throbbing!" She bounced out, stopping only to shout "Hi Eff!" excitedly at the door.

"Christ," Naomi put her forehead against the desk and sighed mightily. She resisted the urge to bang her forehead against the wood until her brain dribbled out of her ears.

"You're good with her."

"Jesus Christ!" Naomi jumped, almost knocking into Effy who had taken a seat on the part of the table Pandora had just vacated. She was disappointed in herself, because she thought that in the last week and a half she had trained herself out of jumping every time Elizabeth Stonem just _showed up _somewhere. And now she was irritated all over again. "I'm good with who?"

"Panda," Effy said simply.

"Did you miss the part where I told her to shut up or I was going to throw the book across the room?" Naomi asked incredulously.

"You didn't say that last bit."

"I wanted to."

"I heard that," Effy shrugged. "But you apologized. You were upset about hurting her feelings. You're trying, and it's all we can really ask."

This wasn't the first time Effy had made the insinuation that the whole group had been watching her for a while before _that_ night. Every time she did, it made Naomi feel several things at once. Nervousness, irritation, gratitude, a sliver of wonder, a bit of warm happiness all swirled together in the pit of her stomach. It was an odd feeling.

"You're thinking it through too much," Effy said. "Just let it be. You'll be fine."

Naomi was all set to deliver a scathingly sarcastic retort when Cook burst into the room. "LADIES! You, me, drugs, music, sex. Tonight." He threw himself down on the couch next to them and lounged, grinning widely.

"Cook wants to head back to Karma tonight," Effy said with a smirk.

"Thommo is at the door again. Never turn down free entrance, it's against my beliefs. You in Eff? Blondie? Maybe a bit of a willy waggle later, yeah? Cookie Monster could make you feel all right."

If this was last week Naomi would have hit him. She almost did the first time Cook ever propositioned her. But when you're around Cook for an extended amount of time you quickly realize that's just how it is with him. It's how _he_ is. His personality is so big it bursts into a room with him and explodes to fill every corner. His charm is dangerous and his excitement for life is infectious. He's Cook.

Naomi ignored his waggling eyebrows and turned back to her politics textbook. "Cook, you couldn't make me feel all right if you stapled your tongue to my clit and stood on a cement mixer."

Everyone in the common room turned to look as Cook erupted with his signature howl. She thought he was going to dislocate his jaw from the way he laughed. Effy didn't do laughing on principle but her blue eyes lit up with wicked amusement.

Cook slapped his leg as he calmed down. "I'm glad we kept you, Blondie. Yah got - what's the word for it Eff? Spunk. So, ladies, Karma. You in?"

For a quick moment Naomi was nervous. Not about going out (she'd gone out with them once or twice since the incident and it was fun, under their influence she'd experienced several drugged out, pissed up nights and the hangovers afterwards) but of going back to Karma for the first time in the two weeks since it happened. She must have hesitated a second too long because Effy reached over and put a hand on her shoulder. It was a small movement but it was enough to push through her momentary paralysis. She nodded.

"All right," Cook whooped and leapt off the couch. "Let's go! We're getting fucking mental tonight, ladies."

* * *

Was this irony? Naomi couldn't decide. It was most certainly another one of those 'if you asked her last week' moments, for sure. Two weeks ago she had avoided this very corner for fear of being laughed at or mocked by its occupants on her way out of the club. Tonight she _was _one of the occupants, laughing with Cook and calmly sharing a spliff with Effy while they waited for Thomas to come out and let them in. Obviously she'd gotten over her avoidance of drugs, although she had threatened Cook that if he ever tried to give her a pill via tongue again she'd castrate him.

She hadn't ever noticed how many people actually stared at this group before. It was a little annoying and a lot unnerving, to be honest. She tugged at the hem of her shirt nervously.

"You look fine," Effy said without looking up from her phone.

Naomi stopped playing with her clothes and played with the bangles around her wrists instead.

Effy rolled her eyes and put a hand on Naomi's wrist to stop the nervous fidgeting. "Stop. You look great, okay?"

"Right. Sorry," her thoughts trailed off. Admittedly she did look pretty good. Effy had raided her closet earlier in the day and come out with a black tank top, a bunch of silver necklaces, and some black leggings. She had sat Naomi down and let her hair curl naturally, then put a headband underneath her hair and across her forehead. Naomi had felt a bit like a large, living doll. In the end Effy had seemed satisfied, if her smug little smile was anything to go by.

She was abruptly dragged back to the present by a girl who gave her a _look _as she walked by and said, "Listen to your friend" and walked away backward. Naomi s self-esteem shot up.

Somewhere behind her Cook was making weird little happy noises. Naomi rolled her eyes. The first time she had disappeared for a quick snog with a cute girl at a club Cook had stared at her like a child who had just been told Christmas was going to come every day this year. When she had cautiously explained that she didn't believe in labels the only reactions were shrugs of nonchalance, a smile of approval from Effy, and a profession of undying love from Cook. Amidst the warmth of their approval and Cook's laughter she felt the bout of nerves begin to go away entirely.

They were automatically replaced by another feeling...that of being watched.

The back of her neck prickled alarmingly. She searched around them as unobtrusively as possible, loudly asking where Thomas was, and almost gave it up as being paranoid when she spotted him in the shadows by the door. He wasn't a man she recognized, his face half-in and half-out of shadow, watching them with such intensity she thought they would all burst into flames. He wore a shirt with the club name and logo. A bouncer, maybe?

As she watched he nodded, as if he was agreeing to something, and then he flicked his half-lit cigarette towards them. Naomi frowned. The unease was back.

_Bloody hell, Campbell, toughen up_, she thought. Effy was still touching her arm and Naomi twisted her wrist to grab at Effy's hand before it could be pulled away. "Eff, that man," she started to say. The brunette followed her eyesight, but the man in the doorway was gone.

Effy stared at her for a long moment before she curled her fingers around Naomi s and squeezed them once, comfortingly. Naomi felt the hard knot in her stomach relax a bit.

"Right," Effy said quietly. Naomi saw her eyes flicker up and over her shoulder and a second later Cook snaked his arms around them both.

"All right, Blondie?" he asked a little too heartily. "Cookie's got your back. Got your front too if yah like."

Naomi rolled her eyes and elbowed him lightly in the stomach. He didn't remove his protective embrace and after another drag or two of spliff she felt her tension drain away almost completely.

Thomas picked that moment to come bounding outside with his big grin firmly in place. "Welcome!" he threw his arms around Panda and kissed her on the cheek. Panda's face went so red Naomi thought steam might actually start pouring out of her ears.

"Sold a wicked load of tickets!" Thomas was saying, "Come in, come in!" He waved another bouncer over as the group bypassed the line and entered the club, and then joined the six of them fighting their way through the crowd.

The DJ was amazing, the music was loud, the crowd was energetic (or maybe it was the buzz from the spliff) and Naomi felt her spirits soar as they claimed a table in the corner.

"Shots!" Cook howled, pounding on the table.

"Get your own shots!" Naomi shouted back, but her spirits were too high now to be annoyed with him. She grabbed Panda and they waded through the dancers to the bar. Naomi got the attention of the bartender immediately - another boost to her self-esteem.

"What can I do you for, ladies?" he addressed them both but his eyes were firmly locked on Naomi.

She did quick mental math. "12 shots of tequila and a Jack and Coke."

Panda took off with the shots as soon as they came, but Naomi stayed for her drink. Almost as soon as Pandora vacated the space a guy slid in. He was good-looking enough that Naomi probably would have pulled for the night if his personality was not so immediately obnoxious. He leaned all the way over the bar and shouted out his order without waiting for the bartender, all the while sending little glances over at her as if this was supposed to impress her. He swung around abruptly and bumped into someone who went flying into Naomi and almost knocked them both to the floor.

"Sorry! I'm sorry!" the girl apologized, jumping out of Naomi's lap as if the contact had shocked her. She stood up straight and Naomi got a good look at lots of brown hair and a vaguely familiar face. "I'm sorry Naomi!"

"It's all right, it's fine," Naomi assured her before the girl could work herself into a panic. The face abruptly clicked in Naomi's mind. "Roundview, right? Politics class."

The girl grinned. "Right! Sophia, by the way," she said as she held out her hand.

"Naomi," she shook the outstretched hand, "and you knew that already."

The jerk, who hadn't said anything or even tried to apologize, took this moment to insinuate himself into the conversation. He slid between them.

"Hello Naomi."

She hated his voice instantly. Hated that he used her name.

"I'm Bruno," he continued, oblivious to how much she wished she could set him on fire with her eyes, "but what do you know?"

Her good mood was quickly dissolving. "Really?" she sniped, "that's the line you're going to use?"

Bruno seemed to try and grin charmingly but it came out more like a leer. "Shouldn't I?" he asked.

"I'm going to give you a moment to rethink it," Naomi said dryly. "Maybe come up with something more impressive."

Poor Sophia had been shoved into the crowd by his aggressiveness. Naomi could see her several seats down, sulking a bit into her drink.

Bruno looked confused but tried to shrug it off. "Well..." he hesitated for a moment, then grinned again. "How about we dance?"

"I don't think so," she rejected flatly. Her drink came and she spun around in her chair to leave.

"Come on," Bruno stood up and blocked her path. "Why not?"

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Cook frown and start to come over but Effy grabbed his arm and stopped him. She was smiling and Naomi groaned internally. _No, Eff_, she thought,_ let him be an overprotective git for five seconds!_ But no help was coming from there.

Naomi pulled her bitch-face and scowled mightily at him. It was usually enough to strike fear into even the most self-confident prats. "I'm not interested," she added sharply in case he missed the point.

Somewhere between Bruno opening his mouth to deliver his next pickup line and Naomi deciding that if he spoke again she was going to knee him in the plums a warm hand settled on her lower back.

"Hey, babe, sorry I'm late." A small body slid easily in between Naomi and Bruno, effectively claiming the space. "Were you waiting long?"

Naomi would have said something - _anything _- if her powers of speech had not completely abandoned her. Red hair on fire with color, button nose, full quirky lips, warm brown eyes that urged her to play along and..._Fuck me if she's not the most adorable thing I've ever seen in my life,_ she thought immediately.

Her heart pounded as if it was trying desperately to escape her chest and jump into the redhead s arms. She wasn't sure if it was the reckless way her hair fell into her eyes, or the amount of legs the black shorts showed (surprisingly long for such a tiny person), or how the light blue tee was a little too big and showed a bit of delicate collarbone, but everything screamed adorably sexy.

"Babe?" the redhead prompted, and the huskiness of her voice almost threw Naomi for another loop.

"Hmm?" She had asked a question, right? Something important? Naomi's mind scrambled to recover the conversation and remembered. "Oh! No, not too long."

Bruno looked like someone had knocked all the air our of his lungs. Naomi sympathized.

"Sorry," he said when he regained his composure, and he meekly grabbed his drink and faded into the crowd.

The triumph of his disappearance gave Naomi her voice back. She smiled at the redhead. "Thanks for that. I seem to only be attracting creepy guys lately."

The redhead's eyes lit up when she grinned and Naomi's heart stuttered. The smile she bestowed upon Naomi was so sweet she actually felt her insides melting a little. The desire to see that smile as often as possible was immediate and overwhelming, it may have just become her favorite smile in the world.

"What about creepy girls?" the redhead asked, and the playful little grin had butterflies fighting for dominance in Naomi s stomach.

Naomi tried to remind herself that she was hard-ass, loner Naomi Campbell who did not, on principle, grin like a loon at random girls in clubs. It was a losing battle.

"If I spot a creepy girl I'll be sure to let you know," she said.

The redhead laughed and the butterflies tripled in number, but it wasn't a bad feeling. She stood up and Naomi only had a minute to reflect on how adorable it was that the redhead standing was the same height as Naomi sitting down before she leaned forward.

"Oh I don't know," she whispered in Naomi's ear. The warm breath rushing past her ear erased all logical thought entirely. "That girl over there looks like she wants to eat me alive," she pulled back (much to Naomi s disappointment) and winked, "and not in a good way."

_Okay, I was wrong before,_ Naomi thought giddily, not even stopping to wonder who the redhead might be talking about, _that wicked little smirk is definitely my favorite._

Naomi tried to recover her cool by taking a sip of her drink. It worked to help settle her stomach a bit so maybe she could look at the redhead without completely losing all cognitive abilities.

She cleared her throat. "So what does that make you?" she asked, twirling her drink in her hands to stop herself from acting on the sudden urge she had to reach out and pull the redhead closer, "My knight in shining Converse?"

The redhead propped one foot onto the rail of Naomi's chair and grinned. "They're pretty battered, actually," she said.

Naomi laughed and knocked the foot off, which sent the redhead into a fit of giggles. "All right," Naomi conceded, "touche. So what should I call you and how can I ever repay you for saving me from a night of obnoxious pickup lines and horrible sex?"

"It was a public service," the redhead said mischievously. "But if you really feel like you own me, how about a dance?"

Naomi felt herself blushing. _What? I am Naomi **mothereffing** Campbell. I am a hard-ass bitch. I don't blush._ There was also something else she didn't do. "I don't dance," she mumbled, hoping against hope the redhead wouldn't hear her.

Apparently she did. The playful little grin was back. "Everyone dances," she insisted. She grabbed the drink out of Naomi's hands and put it on the counter, then reached out and pulled the blond to her feet.

Naomi tried to ignore the rush of pleasure that shot up her arm the moment the redhead grabbed her hand, and failed spectacularly. She let herself be dragged onto the dance floor like an obedient puppy, throwing up half-hearted protests that were shot down immediately. They passed by the table with her friends and Cook stood on his chair to shoot her an enthusiastic thumbs up. She flipped him off, which only set the redhead giggling again. _And seriously, Naomi? Learn her name._

They got onto the floor and, seemingly without thinking about it, Naomi pulled the redhead into her arms. Naomi's hands settled on her hips and her hands reached up and wrapped themselves around the back of the blonde's neck. The rush of pleasure spread to Naomi's stomach at how well they fit.

_Okay Campbell,_ she thought to herself, _now you're just being sappy. Get a grip on yourself._ Her little internal dialogue interrupted itself with, _I'd rather have a grip on her._

Naomi grinned to herself and the redhead stood on tiptoe and pulled Naomi's head down to whisper in her ear again.

"My name is Emily, by the way," she half-shouted over the DJ.

_Emily. EmilyEmilyEmily._ The butterflies in her stomach rejoiced and threw a rave.

Naomi leaned down, and if the way Emily shivered when Naomi's lips brushed her ear was anything to go on then Naomi wasn't the only one who was effected. "Naomi," she offered back.

Emily nodded, but they were dancing so close that the motion brushed her lips against the bare part of Naomi's shoulder. She fought the sudden electrifying jolt the sensation elicited.

When the next song came on Naomi had to stop herself from laughing out loud, because the lyrics were so _goddamn_ perfect. Instead she just pulled Emily closer and gave herself over the dance.

**_"YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, what you doin' to me? What you want from me? You re just fucking killin' me!"_**

**_

* * *

_**Hours. They literally danced for hours. Naomi had never spent the entire night with someone before and not at least shagged them afterwards. She had kept tabs on her friends a bit as everyone got more and more trashed. Cook, Effy, and Freddie had all pulled and disappeared at least once. Even JJ had been dancing with a cute blond girl earlier (she had made Emily laugh when she ruffled his hair as they passed), and Thomas and Panda had remained cuddly all night. _Note to self, check to see if they're dating. Get Effy to help manipulate if they're not._

Naomi's heart actually began to hurt as the night drew to a close. She had never dreaded the thought of morning more in her entire life.

Emily laughed at the look on her face and was about to say something when someone came over and grabbed her arm. It was a man in a Karma shirt, though, Naomi checked, not the one who had been glaring at them earlier. He pulled her away from a very unhappy Naomi and they talked urgently for several minutes. When she came back Emily didn't look too happy either.

"Boss wants me," she said dejectedly and made a little hand motion towards the upstairs. "Probably some sort of damage control. Something about some people getting caught shagging outside?"

Naomi's eyebrows shot up, but not because of the last bit. "You work here?" It shocked her more because sometime during the night she had found out Emily was actually a few months younger than her.

"Yeah, free drinks and all that." Emily smiled her sweet grin again but it disappeared quickly. "I've got to go, though. You don't say no the boss."

Naomi nodded but her expression must have been hangdog because Emily got up on her tiptoes and kissed her on the cheek.

"Don't worry, I'll be seeing you around Naomi."

She disappeared upstairs as Naomi's heart exploded inside her chest. And then Naomi immediately started to curse herself. _No last name, no mobile number. Oh, you're real smooth Campbell. Super smooth. They should call you the queen of fucking smooth. They should name a whole award after you and only the smoothest people get the Naomi Fucking Campbell Smoothness award._

She must have been scowling because Cook exploded out of nowhere and wrapped her up in a bear hug. "What's with the frown? That bird was fucking ace, Naomikins. You had it in the bag!"

He yelped when she punched him in the arm. "Did you shag someone outside?" she demanded. His pulled innocent face was enough, she growled and punched him again a bit harder.

"Ow! What's with the Cooke Monster abuse?" he rubbed his arm and pouted like a child.

"She works here!" Naomi growled at him. "She had to go do damage control for your shag! I didn't even get her mobile number!"

Cook grinned guiltily. "I muff-blocked you?" he asked. He jumped to the side as she went to hit him again. "Don't worry yourself, Blondie. You'll run into her again. You're like, clever and shit."

She couldn't stay completely mad at him when he was giving her his best charming smile and she was beginning to hate that.

"Good!" he grinned again. "Anyway we're on our way out. Let's head home and you can plot ways to get your girl there."

The boys always made sure Naomi, Effy, and Panda were home first before they headed their separate ways which she thought was sweet but unnecessary (and the way Thomas looked at Panda when they dropped her and Effy off at the Stonem house, like he wanted to walk her all the way to the door and kiss her goodnight, made Naomi resolve to definitely talk to Effy about it at some point.)

She was greeted enthusiastically by Ellie seconds after she got through the door. She only had enough energy for a quick shower and a change of clothes before she literally fell into bed; she hadn't even realized how drained she was until the moment she stepped inside her door.

Naomi was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, and she'd be lying if she said her dreams weren't filled with red.

* * *

**A/N: Yeaaaaahh, so the chapter with Emily is the same length as the first two chapters combined. I know I have a problem, okay? Hopefully there won't be as long a gap between the next update! The chapter title is from "Kissin' You" by Miranda Cosgrove _(Don't judge me, OKAY?) _The song they dance to is "Yeah Yeah Yeah" by New Politics._  
_**

**Cheers, ~FS**


	4. Strong On the Surface

**A/n: My chapters are getting longer. I can only view this as a good thing. I think I might like this the best out of all the chapters so far, mostly because I had a lot of fun writing the Naomi/Effy dynamic. As usual this is un-beta'd.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Skins. There is probably a good reason for this.**

* * *

"I dreamed I was missing, you were so scared. But no one would listen, cause no one else cared. After my dreaming, I woke with this fear. What am I leaving, when I'm done here?" - Leave Out All The Rest, Linkin Park

**

* * *

**_**Red.**_

_But not a good red. Not a safe red. This wasn't a color she wanted to reach out and touch. This was something horrible, something to be feared, something that caused pain. Lots and lots of pain that exploded behind her eyes and ravaged her poor mind until she wanted to scream and scream and scream..._

_**Running.**_

_Her lungs burned. Everything was hurting. The world was blurred around her but she kept running because something was chasing her. It was something bad. Something too horrible and terrifying to look back at and if she didn't keep running, if she didn't escape, that something would tear her from limb to limb until she was unrecognizable..._

_**Rage.**_

_A horrible anger. Whatever was chasing her was mad. Truly, horribly mad in the worst kind of blackout rage and it was her fault. She did something, said something, and now this thing would not stop hunting her and she would die here, alone in this place, this dark world full of pain and fear and she'd never know what she did to deserve it..._

_**"No!"**_

_More anger, but not from behind. From in front. And not rage but a righteous indignation. It lit up the world and she turned towards it blindly. If she could only get to the light...

* * *

_

Naomi twisted her body around so hard she didn't even register falling off the bed until her elbow hit the ground and she felt the pain. She was breathing as hard as if she had been running and the residual fear made her chest feel tight. Ellie was anxiously circling her, every once in a while stopping to lick her face and whine.

She held her hand in front of her face and watch it shake for a second. Ellie nudged at the hand with her snout until Naomi started to pet her; the constant back and forth motion was strangely comforting and reassuring. Naomi breathed in shakily, blew it out slowly, and continued to do so until she had calmed down.

"Some dream," she whispered. She stood up and checked the clock on her bedside table. 3:23 am. She'd only been asleep for maybe a half an hour and she hadn't been sleeping long enough to erase the bone-deep fatigue she had felt after coming home from the club.

With no small bit of trepidation she climbed back into her bed. Ellie jumped up and curled up at the end of the bed. Normally Naomi would have kicked her off but she didn't have the energy or the inclination right now. Maybe it was childish to believe having someone else nearby would stave off bad dreams but that never stopped small children from running to their parents and it didn't stop Naomi from letting her dog stay. It surprised her when she fell asleep again almost instantly.

* * *

_When the dream started up again she was already running. The fear was back but stronger, more intense, and so was the feeling of being hunted. Except this time Naomi stopped running and turned around, her mother's voice drifting in and out of her ears, a memory of a dark stormy night and a bad dream many years ago._

**_"It's only a nightmare if you allow it to be one, love. Just don't ever forget that it's your dream and you control what happens in it."_**

_There was nothing but darkness behind her and the sensation of something large and menacing rushing through that darkness towards her. She held her ground._

_The large thing was getting closer now._

**_"Run."_** _Another voice in the darkness. "No, I'll stay and fight."_

_**"You can't fight this."** "I will."_

_**"You'll lose."** "I won't."_

_But the fear began to creep back in. Small and insidious, like tiny insects, the doubts wormed their way into her heart._

_**"Run now!"**_

_There. Off to the side, the light was back. It wasn't much but it was a place to go. Naomi turned and raced towards it just as the big thing approached, carrying with it the sound of roaring wings. And it was close. Naomi's defiant little stand had given it time to catch up._

_But not enough time. She reached the light just as the thing reached her and her jump into the light was quicker than any move the thing made to grab at her._

_Abruptly, she was falling. When she landed it was on something soft. A bed, but not hers. The blanket was too soft, the pillows covered with a different kind of fabric. She opened her eyes and sat up. The flat she was in wasn't large but it wasn't small either. One of those artistic ones with the high ceilings and the whitewashed wood floors and big windows. Right now the curtains on those windows were wide open and giving a great view of the sun as it rose over the London skyline._

_And someone was on the balcony, leaning against the railing and enjoying the view. Naomi stood up and walked towards the open doors, brushing her hand against the curtains as she passed them. Everything about this place was ethereal. She wondered if she was still in her dream. She decided she probably was but were you supposed to know it was a dream while you were still dreaming?_

_She reached the open balcony doors. The person standing there turned and smiled._

_"Morning, you," Emily greeted, her voice warm and husky. Again with that smile that Naomi found herself returning without thought._

_Emily walked over and tugged on the front of Naomi's shirt, pulling her down into a sweet little kiss. Electricity shot through her body and she gasped against Emily's lips._

_The redhead smiled into the kiss and pulled back. "What do you say we finish what we started?" she whispered._

_Invitation enough. Naomi brought their lips crashing back into each other. Emily grabbed onto her hips and started to walk them back until Naomi's legs hit the bed and she tumbled backwards, dragging Emily on top of her. The kisses became more frantic and more heated as Naomi gripped the back of Emily's shirt and pulled her closer. Her body was on fire, her veins filled not with blood but with flames, and it seemed no matter how close she pulled Emily it just wasn't close **enough**. She was surrounded with red, with flames, with Emily, and still she wanted more. And Emily obliged, biting Naomi's lip and pulling it gently until the blond rose up off the bed and into the kiss. She grabbed the bottom of Naomi's shirt and pulled, only breaking their kiss to get the fabric over Naomi's head before their lips were on each other again._

_Naomi groaned when Emily's lips left hers, missing the heat instantly, but it quickly turned into a gasp when Emily started to kiss a trail down her neck and across her chest. Emily ran her hands down Naomi's stomach, to the top of her knickers, and Naomi felt her hips buck up of their own accord._

**_"Naomi."_**

_"Fuck, you're gorgeous," the redhead whispered, pressing featherlight kisses along Naomi's stomach._

_**"Naomi, get up now. Our friendship is only extending so far here."**_

_Naomi felt an ache: between her thighs and in her heart. The first for obvious reasons, the second because she could feel herself being pulled back and she liked it here. It was safe and comfortable and she had a sexy redhead here._

_**"Naomi!"

* * *

**_

She sat up straight, gasping for breath.

"What?" she snarled at the door. Her anger was cut short when instead of her mother like she'd been expecting she saw Effy leaning against her bedroom door.

"Good morning sunshine," Effy greeted. She was smirking in a way that made Naomi wonder how long Effy had actually been standing there...and what noises she had been making while she was asleep. Effy watched the realization dawn on Naomi's face and her smirk got wider. "Nice dreams?"

"Fuck, Effy," Naomi growled. She threw herself back down and pulled a pillow over her face to muffle her scream.

"Apparently someone was already taking care of that," Effy said. Naomi sat back up and threw the pillow at her, which she dodged easily.

Naomi scooted up so her back was leaning against the headboard and patted the spot next to her. Effy came and sat down, smirking the whole time. Naomi figured she was going to have to give in to the inevitable eventually.

"So," she drawled after a bit of silence. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Your mum let me up," Effy said. "I think she's relieved you finally have friends because when I told her we were stealing you for the day she asked if we wanted you for the night too."

Naomi snorted. "Stealing me for the day? Is there some master plan I'm not aware of here?"

"Yes. Every other Saturday we spend the day with Pandora at her Aunt Elizabeth's," Effy said with such a completely straight face that Naomi was unsure whether she was joking or not. "You weren't well enough two weeks ago, and we didn't go last week, which means you're coming today."

"Are you shitting me?" Naomi asked incredulously.

Effy shook her head. "Its important to Panda. So we go. What's a few hours every other Saturday in the grand scheme of things? Besides, Aunt Elizabeth makes her tea out of weed."

Naomi grinned and stood up. "I'm there, then," she said, walking over to her dresser to grab some clothes. "Any particular way to dress or is normal fine?"

"Normal is okay. So who's Emily?"

Naomi was so surprised she tripped over a pair of shoes on her floor and would have gone headfirst into the wall if she hadn't caught herself on the edge of her dresser. "What?" she spluttered.

"Emily," Effy repeated. Her face was solemn but her blue eyes were dancing with wicked amusement. "Semi-common girl's name. One of the things you may or may not have been saying when I walked in."

"Jesus Christ, Eff," Naomi said. She scowled as she ripped her drawers open and grabbed jeans and a t-shirt, and though Effy couldn't see her face she hoped the power of her scowl would translate across the room. "How long were you standing there?"

"Relax, Naomi," Effy said, but Naomi could hear the smirk back in her voice, "not too long. I didn't think you'd still be asleep. Hell even Cook is awake about this time. But I suppose I see why you'd still want to be in dreamland. I actually though you were having a nightmare at first..." she trailed off and Naomi could feel the power of Effy's stare pierce her back but she didn't turn around.

She repressed a shudder. Beyond Effy's teasing there _had_ been a nightmare last night and it had been one of the most vivid dreams Naomi had ever experienced. Her heart rate picked up at the thought of the darkness and the sense of being hunted. It was something she never wanted to experience again.

"So," Effy drew out the word for as many syllables as she could. It seemed she wasn't going to let Naomi stay inside her head for long.

"So," Naomi repeated. She turned around and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Is Emily the redhead from the club last night?" Effy asked slyly.

Naomi made a face and then resigned herself to girl-talk. "Yes," she sighed.

"Ah," Effy said as if that explained everything. "That must be why you look like someone punched you in the stomach. I knew this fear of love was going to come up eventually."

"I do not have a fear of love. Plus, it's not - it's not even close to being love. I would not call dancing with someone for one night a relationship," Naomi snapped. She scowled harder as she realized how defensive that came out. _Good way to convince her right there, Naomi._ Sometimes she wished her sarcastic inner dialogue would shut up.

Effy chuckled, sadistically amused over Naomi's discomfort, but she didn't say anything else.

Naomi growled under her breath. "Oh shut up, Effy. Go be a psychiatrist or something."

Mostly, though, she was plain freaked out. Freaked about the intense feelings from last night, freaked about the nightmare, freaked about the fact that she had just had a dream about someone she had met a grand total of once, and freaked that Effy seemed to know more about what was going on inside her head then she did.

Effy had stopped laughing and was watching her with great interest. "You don't believe in love," it wasn't a question. "And you don't believe in love at first sight, either."

"Love is just another way someone can fuck you over," Naomi said with a calm she did not feel. Her eyes flicked to the side, unable to look Effy completely in the face. "You love someone and they have that hold on you forever. So no, I don't believe in love, and especially not love at first sight."

The brunette on her bed was smiling again. It wasn't a smirk, either, but a knowing little grin that made her twice as pretty and ten times as frustrating to deal with. "So you don't believe in love at first sight," Effy reiterated, with great amusement, "but love at first sight most definitely believes in you. It's hilarious."

Naomi shoved herself away from her dresser and stomped towards her bathroom. "I'm taking a shower," she snapped.

Behind her Effy laughed again. "Better make it a cold one!"

The only response she got was the aggravated slam of a bathroom door.

* * *

Okay, it had been a cold shower._ Damn Effy Stonem for knowing goddamn-fucking-everything._

It turned out that the drive to Aunt Elizabeth's took twenty minutes on the best of days but thankfully Effy had ceased her incessant teasing when they had picked up the others. Effy was driving and Naomi had called shotgun and had Ellie squashed in next to her (the dog was having the most fun of her life hanging her head out the car window), which left Freddie and JJ laughing and playing some sort of video game in the middle, and Panda and Thomas in the back trying to touch each other as often and as casually as possible and trying desperately to act like that wasn't what they were doing.

Watching them in the rear-view mirror, Naomi felt the corner of her mouth twitch up in her own version of the Effy Smirk. Effy saw the smirk, saw what she was looking at, and smiled as well. The whole ride to Panda's house had been full of Naomi, who honestly wanted to see them happy, and Effy, who loved her best friend even if she didn't always admit it, plotting out the best ways to manipulate those two. A tentative plan had been formed.

But someone was missing...

"Where's Cook?" Naomi asked suddenly. The others were too engrossed in what they were doing but Effy heard.

"Home," Effy answered. "Sometimes he can't come on Saturdays. It's all right, though, he's got more important things to do."

Since Effy had sounded entirely serious with no mocking little inflections in her voice Naomi decided to take her at face value. It was implied that it was Cook's place to tell and if he wanted Naomi to know then he would tell her himself.

Naomi nodded. "Right, then." She reached up and hooked her hand inside Ellie's collar when she thought the dog was leaning too far out. The country roads flew by outside with a surprising amount of speed and it was less than ten minutes later that Effy pulled around into a long driveway.

_Wow._ Green. That was the thing that stood out the most. Acres and acres of green, and a manor house that wouldn't look out of place in a Jane Austen novel.

"_Christ_, Panda!" she exclaimed when they parked and stepped out.

"Yeah," Panda nodded. She blushed prettily at the awe-struck look on Naomi's face. "Auntie Elizabeth married some rich old bloke and when he went _poof_ house was hers. Says its mine when her time comes but that won't be for a long long time cause Auntie Elizabeth is gonna outlive just about everyone ever or so she says."

Naomi was only half listening because Panda's voice became soothing background noise after you've known her for a while. She took some time to just observe the enormity of the manor and was actually pretty sure she could see a hint of a large, sprawling garden around the corner.

Ellie was out of the car like a shot and immediately began exploring her surroundings. Thankfully she stayed close by, though, and settled for sniffing all the new things around her and wagging her tail at the speed of light. Naomi wasn't even going to bring her but Effy had insisted that Panda loved the little hound to death and Auntie Elizabeth wanted to meet the 'hero dog' anyway.

As if Naomi's thoughts had summoned her, out came the woman herself. Naomi liked her on sight even if she was more than a little eccentric. She looked frail and small, but her face was tough and lined and she looked like she smiled a lot. Her brown hair looked like she dyed it and it was obvious where Pandora learned most of her makeup skills but beyond that she didn't even seem old enough to be Panda's great-aunt.

"There you are Panda darling!" Aunt Elizabeth said warmly. She hugged and kissed Pandora and then went on to greet everyone the same way (even Freddie, who was so much taller she had to pull him down to kiss his cheek which was actually rather hilarious). When she got to Naomi the old woman studied her for a very long moment, then she took Naomi's face in her hands and turned it from side to side before looking her right in the eyes. "You must be Naomi then. Heard what happened. Terrible, terrible thing. But live and learn I always say and you don't look the worse for wear over it."

"Um, thank you?" Naomi said hesitantly. She wasn't sure what the proper response to that was.

Aunt Elizabeth nodded. "Good manners too. I think I like you, Naomi. And this must be the little hero!" She knelt down in order to scratch Ellie, who had come up to sniff her with interest. The little dog lifted her head to look at this new human and Aunt Elizabeth took a sudden step back and stared.

Naomi frowned. "Is everything all right?" she asked. She stepped forward and put her hand protectively on Ellie's head. "Panda said you liked dogs, so..."

Aunt Elizabeth didn't break her gaze for a moment, but then she blinked and looked back up at them and was perfectly normal again. "No, of course. Love dogs. Good for the land and the soul. Always nice to have them around. Come on in all of you. Tea should be ready soon." And without another word she turned on her heel and led them into the house.

Everyone else followed but Naomi who looked at Effy and lifted an eyebrow. Effy shrugged as if to say 'Eh, what can you do?' and joined the procession into the house. Naomi sighed and followed.

She had barely crossed the threshold when Aunt Elizabeth popped her head out of the parlor. "Naomi sweet, there's an old chain hookup out in the garden. The little girlie will probably be much happier out there."

Naomi frowned but it _was_ awfully nice inside the house, and just because someone liked dogs didn't mean they necessarily wanted them to have free reign inside their home. The chain outside was obviously meant for dogs and gave Ellie enough lead to explore most of the garden so Naomi hooked her up and was back inside just as tea was being served.

This, too, was green. And tasted delicious. And went great with scones. Naomi smirked into her tea when Aunt Elizabeth said it was time to get 'sconed' and even epically stoic Effy had trouble hiding her amusement.

After tea was a tour of the house for Naomi that the others joined for companionship, including one room that Aunt Elizabeth wouldn't let them in but that she called her 'herb and cantrip' room. Naomi looked at Effy and raised an eyebrow again and they both dropped back a little from the group.

"Aunt Elizabeth fancies herself something of a witch," Effy said in a low voice.

Naomi blinked. "What like a mean person?" she asked. "Or like double, double, toil and trouble?"

"Fire burn and cauldron bubble," Effy nodded. "Pretty good at it, too. She's convinced that something bad is going to happen to me though."

Naomi raised both eyebrows skeptically. "You don't actually believe in that, do you?"

"Belief is half the fight," Aunt Elizabeth appeared suddenly in front of them. Naomi jumped, having not seen when she doubled back to see where her laggers were. "But Elizabeth here would know that better than the rest of us."

Naomi thought for a second that she was talking in the third person before she remembered what Effy's full name was.

Aunt Elizabeth was watching Effy with concerned eyes, now. She didn't even notice Naomi's apparent confusion. "You've been taking care of yourself Elizabeth?" she asked Effy anxiously. "Its closer now. I want to be sure you're okay. I want to be sure..."

"Yes Aunt Elizabeth," Effy said, and Naomi had never heard her use that voice with anyone besides Panda. That gentle, calming, I'm-listening-of-course-I-am-no-worries voice. "I know you have everyone else looking after me but its okay. Besides, I have Naomi now too."

Aunt Elizabeth turned to look at Naomi then, and the blond almost recoiled from the intensity of those eyes. "Yes," she said quietly. "I suppose you're right." She turned her head to the side and smiled. "You have good instincts, Naomi, you should use them more often. Good instincts, and kind eyes."

Outside Ellie started barking at something. It broke all three of them from the protective little bubble that had somehow formed around them. Naomi excused herself to go see what was the matter, and Effy told her to just bring the dog to the car because they had to leave soon anyway.

Aunt Elizabeth watched them load themselves in and drive off. She didn't turn away even after the car had rounded the curve and was out of sight.

"Good instincts, kind eyes, and quite a destiny. One thinks you'll need my help soon, Naomi Campbell. I just hope you'll know when to ask if you do."

* * *

They went back to Karma that night. Ostensibly because it was the most popular place around and even if Thomas wasn't at the door they still got mate-rates on entrance and drinks. Mostly because, and she hesitated to even admit it to herself, Naomi really really wanted to see Emily again, if only to check and make sure the intensity of last night was a one-time thing fueled by drugs and drinks.

She spent an hour dancing and drinking before she decided to be obvious and head back over to the bar. The same bartender from last night was there again and he smiled knowingly when she walked over.

"Looking for someone?" he asked slyly.

Naomi grimaced at him. "The girl I was with last night," she began.

"Emily, from upstairs," he nodded. "You want to know if she's in tonight?"

She hesitated. Was asking too desperate? Probably, but what other choice do you have? She nodded.

"She's not. Some kind of family thing came up."

Naomi blanked her face and tried not to let her disappointment show. The bartender wasn't finished, however.

"She must really like you though," he said and slid a piece of paper over to her.

Naomi snatched it up eagerly. It was just a piece of paper ripped off a stationary notepad, it even had the club name and logo in the corner, but it was filled with small neat handwriting.

_"If you get this it means you showed up again. Interested in coffee on Monday? The cafe on 23rd, across from the park at 3 o'clock? Phone troubles. Rick will get the message to me. E."_

Naomi felt her grin split her face in two and she knew she looked stupid but she didn't have the heart to care. She looked back up at Rick who was patiently waiting for her answer. Naomi smiled at him and he blushed profusely. "Tell her I'll see her then?" she asked.

Rick nodded. "Sure thing," he said, and then, so quiet she wasn't sure she heard him right, "Lucky."

As she turned around to head towards her friends she felt the sensation of being watched, but she quickly shook it off as being paranoid. Nothing would bring her mood down tonight.

* * *

She wasn't far wrong. She _was_ being watched. Two pairs of brown eyes followed her progress through the club.

The owner of one pair, in the corner, watched with possessive lust.

The other, hidden behind the wall of one-way mirrors at the top of the dance floor, watched with affection and desperate longing and remained oblivious to all else even as someone walked up behind them.

"You shouldn't be out here. If the boss catches you-"

"I know."

"She'll be angry. What you did last night was risky and stupid."

"I know."

"...she agreed. She said yes."

"I know."

"Although I'll agree with on one thing. If I could pick anybody to be worth the risk it would be her."

A sad, heavy little sigh. "I know."

"Well as long as you know."

* * *

**A/n: Welcome to my first shot at anything remotely smutty! So? Questions, comments, sarcastic remarks? I am thoroughly, thoroughly surprised that my other story is so popular, considering I didn't expect it to be at all. So for anyone who reads both, you know, thanks for that and there's more on the backburner for that. (Also Ladyhawk reviewed that so I'm just gonna go die happily in the corner now) Thanks to everyone who reviewed and favorited, you guys are awesome and it completely makes my day. I'm gonna start putting the song at the top of the page with a line or two. Also, in this chapter? Significant song is significant. **


	5. Waiting For the Moment

**A/n: Oh hey everybody. Look who finally decided to update? Between school and work and working to get into the study abroad program (whoot!) it's been really upsetting that I haven't had time to sit down and write lately, so I finally just sat myself in a Starbucks and hid from the world for a bit. This chapter was originally supposed to be longer but I decided to cut it off here and write the rest into the next. Longer a/n at the bottom. As for the song for this chapter? Hey Monday, please keep singing Naomi's internal dialogue forever and ever kthnx. So many little things in this chapter, you guys. So many important little things. Un-beta'd as usual.  
**

**Disclaimer: My name is not Brian Elsley or Jamie Brittain. So no.

* * *

**

"Today I told myself, that I would control myself. But my heart and zipper seem to disagree. Where is this coming from? Progressively sinking deep." - Where Is My Head, Hey Monday

**

* * *

**After every intense thing that happened on Friday and Saturday, Sunday was almost surreal in its simplicity. Naomi puttered around the house most of the day: doing the dishes in the kitchen, cleaning her room, finishing up Monday's coursework. It all felt very ordinary and domestic, and even though it was exactly what she would have been doing before she started to hang with Effy and the rest, now it was just plain boring.

_You're spoiled, Naomi,_ she told herself when, halfway through her Politics work, she had found her mind wandering again to brown eyes and red hair. _Two and a half weeks and you've forgotten how to spend a Sunday alone? Pathetic._

And the worst thing was that she knew she was letting herself get in too deep. This was a slippery slope and Naomi knew it as surely as she knew the sun rose in the east. You let one person in beyond your walls, and that person helps the next person, followed by the next person, until soon you had so many people in your heart that whatever defense you mounted would be useless because who was there to fight anymore? Love was dangerous and it fucked you up.

Look at her mum. Abandoned at twenty-two with a baby she didn't want, screwed over by the man she thought loved her. And then again and again over the years by more people who were supposed to love her: Naomi's grandparents, Naomi's aunts and uncles, and an endless line of men. It had taken seventeen years for her mum to find Kieran and be finally, blissfully happy.

Naomi was expecting that. The fuck-ups and the fuck-overs, the years and years of unhappiness and loneliness. She was used to it. And then here were friends, six people who were offering her love and acceptance and asking nothing but for her to be herself in return and the notion was _fucking terrifying_.

She started to get worked up. Her breaths came short and shallow, the muscles in her back tightened imperceptibly. Out of nowhere Ellie ran up, planted both paws right into Naomi's stomach, and used her newfound advantage to lick uncontrollably.

"Gross!" Naomi tried to shove her off but the little dog was persistent. "Fine," she grumbled. She stood up and brushed the dog hair off her clothes. "I'm done with the pity party, okay? Quit being so pushy."

Ellie ran around in a tight circle and darted to the door and back. When Naomi didn't get the message she scratched at the front door and looked back at her human meaningfully.

Naomi couldn't help the small smile that formed. "It's not enough that I'm not feeling sorry for myself anymore, is it? I can't believe you want me to get exercise too."

She grumbled but she changed into some older clothes and took her dog for a run. Amazingly, she felt better afterwards. More clearheaded. Better able to tackle her work and think things through.

Not think about her friends, though. If that was a slippery slope then Naomi was determined to cling to the last bit of ledge for as long as possible.

* * *

_Red. Running. Rage. Fear. Hunt, hunt, hunt. Kill, kill, kill._

**_"You're mine."_**

* * *

"Christ," Naomi turned over on her bed and stared blankly at the ceiling. "Same _fucking _dream."

At the end of her bed Ellie lifted her head and whined. Naomi smiled tiredly at the dog. "I'm fine," she assured her. "Just wrecked."

She glanced at her alarm clock and decided 6:15 was close enough. One long, hot shower and two cups of coffee later and she actually felt like a human being. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice her mum come shuffling in not long after seven and put the kettle on.

Gina watched her daughter push semi-burnt toast around on a plate with a faraway look in her eyes for the better part of ten minutes.

"Off with the fairies, love?" she asked.

Naomi jumped. Her mind had been twisting and turning around the dream, trying to pick out some sort of significance that she might have missed to first two thousand times she analyzed it in her head. And then she had moved on to the dream from the other night. She took a bite of her toast and ignored her mother's knowing smirk. Mums weren't supposed to know everything, and Gina certainly didn't need to know exactly where Naomi's head had been right then.

"Maybe. Anyway," Naomi said a little too loudly. She shoved away from the table and grabbed her bag. "School awaits, you know."

Gina grabbed the back of her sweatshirt as she walked past and hauled her daughter back. "Are you all right Naomi?" she asked. She smoothed some stray bits of hair away from Naomi's forehead and rested a hand against her cheek. "You've been looking so tired lately."

Naomi patted Gina's hand and nodded. "I'm okay, Mum. Some bad dreams maybe, but nothing I can't handle."

"If you say so." Gina frowned but waited until Naomi reached the door before she said anything. "Love?"

Naomi turned around. "What's up?"

"You'd tell me, right? If something was bothering you?"

"Of course," Naomi nodded and smiled reassuringly at her mother. The smile disappeared as she closed the front door behind her and started cycling down the drive towards school.

_What Mum doesn't know won't hurt her. And what doesn't hurt her can't hurt me.

* * *

_

"I kissed someone on Saturday night."

Naomi jumped for the second time that day and it was disappointing because she was so sure that this time Effy wouldn't get the drop on her. Yet there she was, showing up just as Naomi closed her locker between first and second period.

"Fascinating," Naomi deadpanned. "Are you coming to Politics?"

"No." Effy grabbed her arm and gently but firmly steered her towards the doors outside. "I'm going out for a fag and you're coming with me."

"You want me to bunk off class first thing in the morning," Naomi said. "God, Stonem, you're such a horrible influence. I'll be sure to explain that the forthcoming detention was your fault."

"The teacher is fucking your mum," Effy drawled. "I think we have some leeway."

Naomi made a face. "I'd rather not have that visual in my head, thanks."

Effy shrugged and pulled Naomi over to the bleachers where Naomi leaned against a pole and tried to look as nonchalant as Effy did all the time. Effy sat down and lit up immediately and Naomi noticed the brunette's hand was shaking. All thoughts of having an apathetic zing-off disappeared.

"Eff?"

Effy didn't answer, just took another deep drag from her cigarette and stared hard into the distance as if the football field held all the answers she was looking for. Naomi sat down on the bleachers and slowly shifted over so her left shoulder was touching Effy's right. Effy leaned into the support and took another drag from her cigarette.

The warning bell for next class sounded in the distance. Naomi ignored it and plucked the cigarette out of Effy's hand instead. She took a pull and handed it back without the brunette saying a word.

"I'm not asking you to talk -" Naomi began.

"I kissed someone on Saturday and I can't remember who it was," Effy spoke over her. The words came out all at once, like if she didn't get them out now she wouldn't have said them at all.

"Oh. Okay," Naomi coughed awkwardly. Really, her social ineptitude was becoming a problem. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Right." Another cough. "Cool."

Effy sighed and looked up at the sky. "Why are we friends, Naomi?"

"If I recall correctly you didn't give me much of choice."

"Of course you had a choice," Effy said. She smirked. "You could have said no that day at the park and we would have backed off."

Naomi just shrugged because Effy was right. Effy was always right.

"Owed you, didn't I?" Naomi finally said after a comfortable silence. "Had to say yes."

"No, you didn't," Effy said confidently. "But I'm glad you did."

"Are you opening up to me right now?"

Effy laughed. It was a little bitter, but it was an actual genuine laugh and it made Naomi feel inordinately proud of herself. "Yes I'm opening up to you, bitch. Now help me figure out who I kissed so I can move on with my life. I won't beg."

"Please don't," Naomi said hastily. "There's too much weird stuff going on right now. If you actually asked for something I don't think I'd be able to take it. Was it someone we know? Was he a bad kisser? Are you worried you shagged someone who is horrible at kissing or something?"

"We didn't shag."

"Right." Naomi's frown deepened and she began to wonder whether she was in a parallel universe where Effy admitted to not having sex and then they talked their feelings out like normal friends instead of just managing to figure out what the other one was thinking.

"And it wasn't a bad kiss," Effy continued. She held her fag in one hand and lifted the other to rub her forehead gingerly. It looked like a nervous tick, and Naomi was a little shocked when she realized Effy had just indulged in a sign of nerves but she kept that to herself. "It was," a long pause, "nice. More than nice. It was great."

"Do you remember what this great kisser looked like?"

"I don't know."

"Tall?"

"I don't know."

"Blue eyes, green eyes?"

"I don't know."

Naomi kicked the seat in front of them in frustration. "Do you know anything?"

"I know almost everything," Effy said, her trademark smirk now firmly back in place. "That's probably why this is bugging me so much."

"Eff," Naomi said quietly. She watched as Effy's mask came back up and immediately felt horrible for losing her temper. "I'm sorry -"

"Don't worry about it, Naomi. It's not a big deal. I'll let you know if I figure it out," Effy said. She stubbed out the end of her cigarette and stood up. "See you in English."

Naomi nodded. "Yeah," she reached out and grabbed the edge of Effy's sleeve before the other girl could walk past her down the steps. "You'll tell me, right? If something is bothering you?"

It didn't register immediately that her mother had did that same thing, had spoken almost those exact same words to her less than two hours ago, but when it did her fist tightened almost imperceptibly on Effy's shirt. For some reason the answer to her question was the most important thing she could think of.

Effy studied her for a long moment before nodding. Naomi let go of her sleeve and watched until the other girl had gotten inside the building and it was only as the door was swinging closed that Naomi realized that Effy hadn't actually promised anything.

"Son of bitch," she growled. She hit her forehead with the palm of her hand repeatedly. "Why am I the world's worst friend?"

Her thoughts from the other night all came rushing in at once. _What's this, Campbell?_ A little voice in the back of her mind said. _Concern? Didn't know you had it in you._ Naomi rubbed the heels of her palms into her eyes until she saw stars behind her eyelids. It didn't help. But the little voice was right. Her mother had asked Naomi that question because she cared about Naomi and was concerned, it only followed that Naomi had asked Effy for the same reasons.

This was bad. She couldn't allow herself to care this deeply about these people. Be entertained by them, accept their camaraderie to an extent, yes. But not care about them. Not love them, or be concerned about their well-being. She couldn't allow herself to care about Cook who took it upon himself to look after her, or Effy who so rarely opened up to people, or sweet sexy Emily.

She just couldn't. Because eventually she was going to get hurt. She'd seen it with her mum a million times, and the more she cared the more it would hurt. But, seemingly without her consent, her stupid, stupid heart had begun to care anyway.

Naomi leaned back and stared at the sky. "What the fuck am I doing?" she asked it.

The sky didn't answer back.

* * *

Naomi biked to the cafe at the end of the day determined to keep up the walls she had spent all morning rebuilding around her heart. Effy had pretended like nothing was wrong in English that afternoon so Naomi had followed suit. Everyone else seemed to be acting normal and going about business as usual; Cook even managed to think up suggestive comments about her coffee date (she never knew the phrase "grinding coffee" could sound quite so dirty).

She was determined; a woman on a mission. She would have coffee with Emily and things would be awkward, they wouldn't click immediately like they did in the club and her theory about it just being the drugs would be confirmed.

_Woman on a mission, woman on a mission,_ she repeated, each end of 'mission' coinciding with the downward thrust of her bike pedals. She could control her body's reactions. She could. _Get in, get out, get on with your life. Well, shit. That's just unfair._

Emily sat at one of the tables of the cafe and Naomi almost wondered out loud how it was possible for someone to look so good in a plaid button-up. It was muggy for September and the top two buttons were undone. Naomi's heart immediately doubled in speed.

_Damnit!_ She almost stopped the bike and turned around. She had done exactly what just seconds before she promised she wouldn't do: let her body control her reactions. And right now her body was reacting very positively to those two undone buttons. She braked up and skidded to a stop a few shops down, parking her bike there. She could feel something hanging in the air, something that said if she walked over and sat down at that table then a part of her life would be irrevocably changed. Naomi felt her muscles tighten up in panic; she couldn't do this.

She was chickening out, psyching herself out of even going over to Emily, and she knew she was doing it. Naomi was two seconds away from turning around and bolting when she got a good look at Emily's face.

Gorgeous, of course, but...

Later Naomi wouldn't be able to tell anyone exactly what she saw that day, whether it was something in the curve of Emily's frown or a flicker behind her eyes, but Emily looked sad sitting there alone at the table, not even touching the cup in front of her. Her eyes, those beautiful big brown eyes, were focused on something far away as she played absently with the edge of her sleeve.

Naomi's heart slowed. Her pulse stopped racing. Curiously, Emily's pain dialed down her raging hormones and settled her into something akin to calm. Heat was replaced with real genuine concern that she didn't try to fight off this time, and the need to erase all that unhappiness from Emily's eyes.

Her feet carried her forwards without any written consent from her brain. "Hey."

Emily looked up and most of the sadness disappeared when she noticed Naomi standing there. The redhead beamed at her. Now that she knew it was there, though, Naomi could still see that unknown grief lingering in the lines of her face.

"Hey," Emily said. She stretched out and nudged the chair across from her with her foot.

Just because she had better control of herself now doesn't mean Naomi didn't notice how Emily's shirt rode up when she did that and how it revealed a strip of skin along her stomach. She was concerned, not blind.

Naomi sat down gratefully. She hadn't realized how tired she was until just that moment. "Thanks. Am I late?"

"No," Emily seemed to perk up a bit when Naomi smiled at her. "I'm early. Long day?"

"Boring day. Thanks," she accepted the cup of coffee Emily waved towards her. "Are you sure-"

"Go ahead, I haven't even touched it yet."

Naomi took a sip (lukewarm, which made her wonder just how long Emily had been sitting outside the cafe, thinking whatever thoughts had been upsetting her when Naomi arrived), noticed something, and smiled into the cup.

Emily saw her little grin and smiled nervously in response. "What?"

"Nothing," Naomi said quickly. "Just glad to see you're not perfect."

"What?" Emily repeated, frowning a little. Naomi made a little hand motion to indicate the back of her shirt, and when Emily felt underneath the collar she blushed and said something under her breath that Naomi was sure was probably a curse. The redhead ripped the tag off the back of the shirt. "Well, now that I've thoroughly embarrassed myself..." She trailed off.

Naomi had an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach. She knew she had expected this: the of awkwardness, the bit of stiffness and formality to their conversation. Now that the reality was looking her in the face, though, she found herself a lot more upset and disappointed than the thought she would be.

As the silence that had fallen between them started to stretch towards the uncomfortable side of the spectrum Naomi saw the sadness deepen in Emily's eyes and something inside her cracked. Emily should not be unhappy, ever. Her brain scrambled to find a way to break the awkwardness between them and she wound up blurting the first thing that came to mind.

"I can roll my tongue," she said. Her mouth snapped shut with an audible click and she felt a blush start to creep up her neck. _Here, have a Naomi Campbell Smoothness award. You deserve it. Twat._

Emily stared at her for a second and then started laughing so hard that tears came to her eyes. Naomi's embarrassment increased tenfold but Emily's laughter was so infectious that she found herself smiling anyway.

"Sorry, sorry," Emily gasped, wiping at her eyes until they resembled some form of dry again. "I'm not laughing at you."

Emily was having trouble catching her breath and Naomi's thoughts were drifting towards the gutter again; a bad place where a little voice that sounded a lot like Cook wondered what other ways she could make Emily gasp.

"Why not?" Naomi asked, "I'd be laughing at me." She raised the coffee to her lips to take another sip.

"It's just my mind is twisted. You said that and the very first thing I thought of saying back was 'Is that a proposition?'" Emily admitted.

Naomi choked on the coffee as a laugh bubbled up from her chest and tumbled out of her throat unheeded. It was Naomi's turn to clutch the table and gasp for breath as she struggled to contain her laughter. Unfortunately her laughter set Emily off again and soon they were both cracking up in their seats. Just when each one thought they had settled down, they would catch the eye of the other and the giggles would start up again.

It felt good, just to sit there and laugh with Emily. All the uncomfortable tension between them drained out slowly the longer they laughed, until it was only their giggles hanging in the air between them.

She put her hands flat against the surface of the table so steady herself. "Okay," she said when she finally caught her breath for good. "Okay, we're getting weird looks."

"We should be," Emily said, but she seemed to have herself under control as well. "Oh god I don't think I've laughed like that in forever." She grinned and dabbed the last remnants of tears from the corners of her eyes with her sleeve. "Now please explain to me exactly why you felt the need to announce your oral talents to the world?"

Naomi struggled valiantly to keep her laughter internal this time. She was pretty sure if she started up again the annoyed little barista would kick them out.

Emily sighed and covered her face. Naomi suspected it was because her cheeks were swiftly matching the color of her hair. "That came out dirtier than expected," her voice was muffled from behind her hands. "I think I'm just going to move on with the conversation."

This time Naomi couldn't control her snicker. "Don't worry about it. It's something my mum taught me to do when I was a little kid. We went to all these protests and fundraisers, and sometimes there would be other kids there. I wasn't very sociable so my mum told me to just say a random fact about myself and go from there. It really worked to break the ice most of the time. Figured I may as well give it a shot now."

"That actually makes sense," Emily said. When she pulled her hands down from her face her skin was a normal color again. "In that case my tongue is pierced."

"Emily -" Naomi cut herself off and frowned. "There seems to be a flaw in my plan. What is your last name?"

"Fitch," Emily supplied.

Naomi nodded. "Emily Fitch, you little badass. Any other things I should know about? Tattoos? Children?"

"No tattoos and no children," Emily laughed. "Just the piercings."

"_Piercings_? Plural?"

Emily nodded sheepishly. "Fourteen. Mostly in my ears," she added quickly when Naomi's eyebrows shot up in surprise, "plus the one on my tongue. And one on my lip. And a navel. I don't wear them all at the same time but I like to keep my options open."

"Obviously," Naomi quipped. She couldn't say much else, though, because the words 'Emily' and 'navel piercing' had combined quite interestingly in her mind. She approved of this side of Emily; she approved most thoroughly.

After that the conversation carried on smoothly and the little knot in Naomi's stomach disappeared entirely. It had been just after three in the afternoon when Naomi had parked her bike up and sat down at the cafe, and it was just after six when Naomi's phone rang. During the time in between they had ordered another round of coffee and Naomi had demolished half a plate of scones.

They managed to talk about absolutely everything: Naomi's favorite food in the whole world was Garibaldi's, Emily hated peas with a wrathful vengeance. Naomi described growing up with a hippie mother (and more than once they had to stop the conversation because Emily was laughing so hard at Naomi's description of the lodgers her mum had taken on last year), and Emily had retaliated with stories about growing up in London and the antics she got up to with her pervy younger brother and her bossy older sister.

"Twins?" Naomi had laughed. "If she's anything like you then you must have given your parents coronaries."

The sadness had returned then; just a flash of it and just for a moment. Emily had grinned wryly and seemed to banish it. "No, we're not much alike anymore."

Naomi had wanted to erase the sadness entirely, so she had launched into a story about her attempts to stand up for student body president during middle school.

Emily's eyes lit up in mirth. "I can see it now, in lights," she teased. "'Naomi - get to know me'."

Naomi chuckled and scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "I dunno, I thought it was quite catchy."

"Yeah well so is AIDs."

They both giggled and would have probably broke into another laughing fit again if the sound of Naomi's phone hadn't gone off right then. Naomi looked down at her pocket as if the force of her glare would make the interruption go away.

Emily snickered at what Naomi could only assume was the look on her face. "Aren't you going to answer that?" she asked.

"I _really _don't want to," Naomi admitted, rather truthfully. "But the only person who would be calling me right now would be my Mum..."

"Answer it," Emily said firmly. "I don't mind."

Naomi growled under her breath as she snatched her mobile out of her pocket and answered it. "Yes, can I help you with something?"

"I didn't know you were on a date!"

Naomi resisted the urge to smack her palm to her forehead. "Mum, do you need something?"

Across the table Emily mouthed the word 'rude' at her. Naomi responded by pointing to her phone and mouthing 'annoying' and Emily grinned.

"Do I know him?" Gina asked, completely ignoring the tone in her daughter's voice. Or maybe she was just used to it. "Is he nice? Is he cute?"

Naomi heard the murmur of voices in the background and her mum's breathy 'ooooooh'. Then Gina was back on the line again. "So do I know her? Is she cute?"

"Mum!" Naomi a blush start to creep up and tried to fight it. _Ice, ice skating, snow, cold water, cold showers, I took a cold shower the other day...shit. That didn't help. _"How do you even know where I am right now?"

"Effy told me."

"What the bloody hell is Effy doing at our house?"

"Well," Gina's tone changed and Naomi heard her mom move away, probably to another room. "She showed up a few minutes ago. Actually, sweetheart, she looks rather upset."

Naomi sat straight up in her seat. Emily looked up from where she was folding her napkin into shapes, her brown eyes suddenly concerned, but Naomi's mind was (for once) elsewhere. Effy was upset to the point that it showed on her face? She frowned. "Okay. Upset how?"

"I don't know, just upset. Do you want me to ask her to stay or...?"

"Shit. No, she's upset. I should...damn it," Naomi cursed. She looked up at Emily and was torn. "I - I'll be there in a bit. Don't let her leave," she added sternly.

"I won't. Naomi..."

Naomi hung up before Gina could finish the sentence and looked at Emily with sad eyes. Emily's smile was kind.

"I know the feeling," the redhead said. "You have to go?"

"Wish I didn't," Naomi admitted. She frowned again; what was with her sudden bout of honesty?

Emily shrugged. "It's all right, things come up. Let's just pay and -"

"I'm getting it," Naomi jumped up before Emily could and started walking inside to the counter.

"Naomi, no," Emily said. "I invited you, I should -"

"Nope," Naomi cut her off again. She turned around and walked backwards, smirking smugly. "Don't try to fight me on this, Fitch. I play dirty and you'll lose."

Emily's eyes sparked with mischief. "Maybe I want you to play dirty."

Naomi bumped into the door and almost tripped over backwards. She turned around quickly and almost ran over to the counter to pay, fighting another epic blush the entire time._ Okay,_ she thought a little wildly, _that was hot._

As she was heading back outside she heard Emily's voice arguing with someone. And though it went against her better judgment her instincts told her to stop and just listen for a minute. The door to the outside of the cafe was only partly open so she couldn't hear everything they were saying, but what she did sent a unknown chill down her spine.

"...why you're fucking doing this..."

"Just...leave it..."

"...unnecessary risk...yourself in danger...nothing..."

"My decision and...she doesn't have...my choice...Stop. I'm not talking about this anymore." Emily's voice was stern and clear. The conversation was definitely over.

Naomi plastered a big smile on her face and slipped out the door. "See? Told you I'd win," she said lightly.

Emily was standing at the table. When Naomi came out she had been glaring down the man who was standing next to her, but she turned and smiled. "Thanks," she said. "Naomi, this is Paul. I work with him at Karma."

Naomi went to go shake his hand when he turned towards her and, for just a second, an umbrella at another table threw a shadow across half of his face. She yelped and almost dropped his hand entirely. His grip on her tightened for a moment before he released her.

"Naomi?" Emily asked worriedly, "Are you all right?"

She forced a smile on her face just for Emily. "Yeah," she said. "Just realized what time it was. I've really got to step on it to get home, you know?"

Emily still looked concerned but she nodded. "Okay then," she said. "I guess I'll see you around."

"Yeah, see you," Naomi mumbled. She started to walk towards her bike. _Say something, say something,_ her mind whispered. Her feet kept moving and the little voice of doubt was back. _She didn't say anything about another date, so why should I? I should just -_

"Naomi!"

Naomi spun around so fast her leg clipped her bike and almost knocked it over. Emily sprinted up and skidded to a stop in front of her.

"I had a really nice time," the redhead said quickly, "and I was just wondering if you wanted to-"

"Yes," Naomi answered immediately.

Emily smirked. "You don't know what I was going to ask."

"Maybe the answer was going to be yes no matter what," Naomi smirked back.

And, for the first time ever, Naomi got to witness Emily Fitch blush. Her smirk turned into a grin of triumph. Score one: Naomi Campbell.

"All right then," Emily said. She stumbled a little over the words and Naomi had to physically stop herself from thinking how absolutely adorable that was. "There's a band playing at the club on Friday. They're supposed to be awesome."

"I'll be there."

"Great!" Emily beamed. "Meet you there at seven?"

Naomi smiled back. "Seven it is."

Emily nodded and started to back away slowly, still beaming. Naomi kept her face from falling with great difficulty and she turned around to start unlocking her bike. Her hands fumbled a little with the lock mechanism and she cursed it under her breath. Suddenly Emily was there, her hands steadying the lock so Naomi could fiddle it open.

Naomi looked up to thank her and the words caught in her throat. Emily was so close Naomi could see the flecks of gold in her brown eyes. Naomi bit her lip and tightened her grip on the lock, trying to hold herself in place. As she watched, Emily's eyes flickered down to her lips - up - back down again. When Naomi didn't react or move away Emily leaned forward and kissed her softly, quickly.

It was ten times better than in her dream. Her dream couldn't convey how soft and and warm Emily's lips were against hers, or the intense rush of pleasure that went straight to her head and made her a bit dizzy.

Emily was smiling as she pulled away. "Hopefully I'll see you before Friday," she said. Then she stood up and went back over to Paul, and Naomi mentally shook herself.

She waved a little dorkily at Emily as she got on her bike and started pedaling off. But her thoughts were a mess because as good - _wonderful, perfect, amazing, geez get a grip on yourself Campbell_ - as good as the kiss was Naomi had more troubling things on her mind.

Like Effy being upset enough to go to her house even though she knew Naomi probably wouldn't be there. Like the half of an argument she had overheard. Like the fact that Paul was the man Naomi had seen glaring at them outside the club the night she met Emily.

She chanced a glance over her shoulder as she rounded the corner, but Paul and Emily were already gone.

* * *

**A/n: Wellllll, that's chapter five. Not sure how much I like it? Definitely kicking up the mystery a bit though. To everyone who reviewed: you guys are amazing. You have no idea how awesome it feels to know people like what I'm writing. And because it's been so long since my last update I'm updating this AND Tell Me A Story at the same time, so anyone who reads both...there ya go. Just some shout-outs: AssassinsLover (well if you FORBID it...), foolishgames (yes after Ellie Goulding, and I _loved_ Electric Feel)**, **bethybaby008 (please don't die I want more Redheads and Hospital Beds!), Ess5iveOoh (it's a mystery, I'm not telling you if you're right!) and a bunch of others that if I answered all of them I'd be here all day! Love you all [Jenna Fitch voice] like fierce, ya know? Cheers! ~FS**


	6. Be The One You Call

**A/n: Guess who's back? Back again? FitchSwitch's back. Tell a friend. (Random attempts at beatboxing) Okay, I'm going to stop being a dork now. But I am back now because midterms are over and I honestly don't know what to do with all this free time. Obviously the answer is to write until I fall down. I really hope your reaction to this chapter was the same as the friend who reads it before you. That is: 'I honestly have no idea what is going on in this story and I kind of love it'. Some review stuff and a few story pimps at the bottom. Un-beta'd as always. (Please enjoy the nostalgia flashback that is the song for this chapter).  
**

**Disclaimer: Nope.

* * *

**

"When you feel all alone, and a loyal friend is hard to find. You're caught on a one-way street with the monsters in your head." Crash and Burn, Savage Garden

* * *

Naomi made it back home in record time, moving so fast that her tires kicked up gravel when she braked up in front of her house. The whole ride home her heart and mind had been racing at top speed. The nearer she got to the house the more she pushed Emily to the back of her mind and focused on Effy. What could possibly be hurting the unflappable Effy Stonem? And how exactly was she supposed to get her to open up about it?

In the end she needn't have worried about how she was going to confront Effy. The brunette was sitting on the steps of Naomi's house, cigarette in hand as always. Or perhaps it was a spliff, Naomi couldn't tell at this distance and she wouldn't put anything past her mother. She parked up and stopped a few feet away.

"Hey," Effy said quietly without looking up.

"Hey," Naomi answered, as if having a friend show up randomly at your house was a natural occurrence. Well, she hadn't had friends all that long. Perhaps it was.

Effy wasn't smoking the cigarette (now that it was closer Naomi could tell it was definitely just a fag, which was a shame because she had a feeling drugs would have made this easier) just twirling it unlit between her fingers. Naomi watched as the stick of tobacco twisted in and around Effy's fingers, all the way through one hand and back around again.

There was a moment of heavy silence before Effy spoke. "Freddie taught me how to do this," she said. She lifted up her hand, still twirling the cigarette.

"Of course he did," Naomi said, "Freddie, king of smoking. Of course he would know tricks."

All right, maybe she wasn't a comedic mastermind, but usually comments like that at least provoked a smirk. Naomi frowned and sat down on the steps, unconsciously mirroring their positions from earlier in the morning. "You needed me, Eff?" she asked. Effy had a strange look on her face that Naomi was having trouble placing and she didn't like it.

Effy laughed a little bit. It sounded watery and when Naomi looked closer she was shocked to see tears in Effy's eyes. Tears, and a great deal of fear. It was Effy herself who had been training her to people-watch, telling her about body language and how to read people's faces. Normally, because she knew all the tricks and that meant that she knew how to hide better than anyone else, Effy was as unreadable as ancient Greek. But some wall had come down behind Effy's carefully constructed facade and for some reason known only to Effy herself she was letting Naomi see behind it.

"Yeah," Effy said, gripping the cigarette so tightly she didn't notice when it broke in her hand.

Naomi nodded and she was the one to initiate contact this time. "Right," she said firmly. "It's getting dark and cold out here, come on." She grabbed Effy's hand and pulled her into the house and upstairs to her room. Effy followed docilely, she didn't even try to pull her hand free. Ellie trotted closely on their heels. When they got upstairs Naomi spent a bit of time securing Effy comfortably onto her bed before she dragged her computer chair over and straddled it.

Effy watched her do all this, still with that completely calm face. "How was your date?" she asked when Naomi was settled.

Naomi surprised herself with the anger she felt at Effy's attempt of a brush off. _Bullshit,_ she thought somewhat viciously. _I don't care how you react, I'm calling your bullshit on this one Elizabeth Stonem._

"No," she said forcefully. She watched as Effy's eyebrows flew up in surprise but she didn't give the brunette girl time to say anything in response. "You're not going to sit there and pretend that nothing is wrong. Fucking screw that, Effy, you came here for a reason. Now maybe you don't want to tell me what it is, but you had to come here because you wanted something and we're not going to sit and talk about my date like everything is sunshine and happiness."

Halfway through this little tirade Effy started smiling a small, mysterious little smile. She waited several seconds after Naomi finished talking before she said anything, though, and when she did speak it was confusing and cryptic as always.

"Good girl, Naomi," she said quietly.

Naomi scowled. She was _not_ in the mood to be dealing with a vague Effy right now, and she was certainly not in the mood to be treated like a child.

"What -"

"Our friendship isn't made of eggshells," Effy interrupted. Clarifying what she was saying for maybe the first time in her entire life. "You've been treating us like we're going to break all over you if you push too hard and we're not. It's about time you stepped up and started treating us the way we treat you."

Naomi's scowl disappeared. "That makes sense," she admitted reluctantly. She decided not to mention that Effy looked like she was made of something much more fragile than eggshells at the moment. "Now what's the matter with you?"

Effy turned her head to look out the window. Naomi watched her friend watch the way the open window blew the curtains back and forth for several quiet minutes.

"A thought occurred to me," Effy said finally, vague as always. "And I managed to build it up in my head as something bigger than it was." A small laugh escaped. "I think I may have actually managed to freak myself out."

"You managed to freak me out," Naomi said lightly, and felt proud of herself when Effy's little smile returned. "Now I'm wondering if maybe we should try this new thing in our friendship."

Effy raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

_Hey, I raise the eyebrows around here missy._ "Yeah. It's this new concept I've learned a bit about, it's called the truth. Maybe you've heard of it?"

Effy's smile disappeared. She turned back to look at her and Naomi almost pushed herself backwards to escape the intensity of those eyes. For a moment it felt like she was trapped in whatever pain Effy was experiencing and it wasn't a pleasant place to be.

"I don't think you're ready to hear my truth, Naomi. Either way, I'm not ready to tell it."

Naomi frowned. "Eff, I realize you don't do the whole emotional processing thing-"

"Neither do you," Effy interjected.

Naomi nodded, acknowledging the point. "And we don't have to do it. But if you ever need me..." she trailed off, unsure how to word the next part without sounding cheesy.

Effy's little smile was back. "I know," she said. "I'm here, aren't I?"

Sometimes, just sometimes, Gina Campbell had the best timing in the entire world. Naomi sighed in relief when her mother showed up at the doorway with a big smug grin, like Naomi finally having friends who came over and talked to her and took her out to parties was something Gina accomplished instead of Naomi herself. She looked so absurdly proud that Naomi almost rolled her eyes.

"Feeling better, Effy?" Gina asked kindly.

Naomi raised an eyebrow at her friend and Effy shrugged back.

"Much," the brunette answered. "Thank you Ms Campbell."

"Gina," Naomi's wonderfully hippie mother corrected. "I told you that you could call me Gina and I mean it. Are you staying for dinner, dear?"

"I'd love to, thank you very much," Effy said politely.

"Great!" Gina clapped her hands together and this time Naomi did roll her eyes. "Come down in five and we'll probably be ready to eat." She disappeared down the stairs and Naomi groaned and buried her face in her arms.

"Why is she so embarrassing?" she complained into the crook of her elbow.

Effy laughed. "I think she's nice."

"She's a cliche," Naomi said without looking up.

"She's a nice cliche."

"Whatever." She lifted her head up and watched as the shadows finally disappeared from Effy's face, at least for the time being. "Do you get the feeling that she feels personally responsible for me having friends now?"

Effy did that weird half-smile again. "She cares about you," she said in a low voice. "Be grateful. Some people don't have parents who care half that much about them."

Naomi got the impression that 'some people' was a lot more personal than Effy was letting on but she let the issue go. One awkward and intense heart-to-heart with Effy Stonem was enough for one day, thank you very much.

"Whatever," she said again. "She probably didn't even cook anything. Ten quid says its Chinese order-in."

Effy smirked as Gina's voice floated upstairs calling them down for dinner. She stood up and smoothed her skirt before offering Naomi a hand off her chair. "I like Chinese," she said affably.

Naomi smirked back as she led the way downstairs. "Good," she said. "Because I'm pretty sure my mum is going to feed you until you pop."

* * *

Dinner with Effy, Kieran, and her mum all at the same table was not as awkward as Naomi thought it was going to be. Between Kieran and herself they managed to keep the conversation light and it was only when Kieran went into the kitchen to refill everyone's drinks that Naomi actually saw her mother's face change from smiles to serious.

_Uh oh._ "Mum," she began suspiciously, "what are you-"

"Shush, Naomi," Gina ordered.

Naomi shut her mouth, offended. _What is this?_ she grumbled as she shoved her leftovers around the plate with a little more force than was actually necessary. _Did everyone have a meeting and decide not to let me finish sentences today?_

"I never thanked you," Gina said soberly, reaching over and grabbing one of Effy's hands. "For what you did that night."

Effy's face was shocked; actually, completely, unguardedly shocked. "Gina - I - you don't have to -" Effy looked like someone had handed her a live bomb and told her 'here, do something with this will you?'.

It was intensely amusing. Naomi bit her lip to keep the laughter in check. _Effy Stonem is speechless,_ she thought sadistically. _This is fucking brilliant._

"I just - oh _stop laughing at me_, Naomi!"

"Ignore my daughter," Gina flicked her hand towards Naomi and made a face. "She has the emotional range of a teaspoon." Her eyes dropped to the table and she let go of Effy's hand like she sensed all of this touching and emotion was making the girl uncomfortable. "And I'm sorry if I've embarrassed you but...Naomi was all I had for a very long time."

The laughter died in Naomi's throat. "Mum..." she said at the same time that Effy said "Gina..."

"No, it's true," Gina shook her head. "If something had happened to her that night, I don't know what I would have -" she cut herself off and lifted her eyes to Effy's again. "Just, thank you. For saving her and for being her friend. She's rather special."

Naomi rubbed a hand over her heart to try and relieve the tightness in her chest, but it did nothing to relieve the stinging behind her eyes. She watched as emotions flickered over Effy's face like wildfire, too many and moving too fast for Naomi to identify. Finally her friend nodded and reached out to squeeze Gina's hand.

Gina let her hold on for a bit before she stood up and wiped her hands against her pants. "Well! I know for a fact that Kieran has turned on the football game by now. We never should have put a telly in there, I always said it was a bad idea. Do you need a ride home, Effy love?"

"Can Eff stay the night, Mum?" Naomi asked quickly.

Both of them turned to look at her with similar expressions of surprise but Gina just shrugged. "Of course she can," she said. "I'll bring some extra blankets up to Naomi's room later." She continued on into the kitchen, "Kieran MacFanaugh I knew it! You were supposed to be getting us drinks!"

Naomi smirked at Kieran's attempts to placate her mother and turned to Effy. "Don't start," she said when Effy started to speak. "We're trying out that new truth thing, remember?" She had seen the flash of sadness and trepidation that Effy had tried so hard to hide when Naomi's mother mentioned giving her a ride home. "Do you want to go home tonight?"

Effy opened her mouth -

"Truth," Naomi reminded her.

- and closed it again. She shook her head and Naomi rubbed her hands against the table.

"Great," she said, standing up. "Feel like a movie then?"

Naomi led Effy into the living room and they wound up watching re-runs of Dr. Who instead, and ignoring Kieran when he hinted heavily that they should do coursework and it was nice. Naomi never thought she would curse her genius brain but for once it was nice to just shut off her thoughts and be Effy's friend. It was nice to have friends. Maybe that was a revelation a long time coming. Effy seemed to read her mind and let her be for most of the night; she didn't say anything until they were getting ready for bed.

"You're thinking too much," Effy said abruptly when they were setting up Naomi's bed for the night.

"I...what?" Naomi spluttered, confused. _Wait, I was joking about Effy being able to read minds. I was fucking joking!_

Effy rolled her eyes. "You have a very expressive face, Naomi," she said slowly, "and I would bet all the drugs in my pocket right now that you've been thinking about our friendship all night."

"You have drugs in your pocket?"

"Don't change the subject," Effy said, narrowing her eyes. "Or aren't you the one who's been advocating that truth thing we're trying?"

Naomi looked away guiltily, because she had been deflecting Effy away from the question. Truth was she didn't exactly know why she was fighting so hard against Effy and the rest of the group, and if she didn't know herself then how could she explain it to them?

"Yeah, well," she tried to convey her confusion, hoped Effy would get it. _Please. When I know, you'll know, but I don't..._

And Effy, wonderful understanding Effy, just shrugged like it was no big deal and started making the bed again. Naomi could finally breathe easier. She slipped into her bathroom to get changed, and had just finished pulling on her pajamas when she heard Effy yell.

"OW! Fucking hell! Naomi!"

Naomi threw the door open and darted back into her room. Effy was holding her leg and glaring at Naomi's bed, where Ellie was sitting and acting as innocent as possible.

"What happened?" Naomi asked, looking between the two and frowning.

"Your dog scratched the shit out of my leg when I tried to lay down," Effy growled.

To Naomi's shock, Ellie growled right back. Naomi gaped at the three long scratches that ran down the length of Effy's calf. They weren't bleeding, thank god, but they were awfully red and irritated.

"Ellie!" she snapped, "You_ like_ Effy! What the hell?" she marched over and grabbed the dog's collar, pulling her off the bed and leading her out into the hall. The little dog whined the whole way as if she was saying _'Wait, you're kicking me out of bed? Not fair!'_ but Naomi just shut the door firmly before she could try to get back in.

"Jesus, Eff, I'm sorry," she started to say as she turned back around. "I don't know what got into her. I'll get you some ice if you...what?"

Effy was sitting on the bed and staring at the closed door, rubbing her leg absentmindedly like the scratches didn't even matter anymore. Naomi had seen some strange looks on Effy's face before, but this was the absolute strangest. She was looking at the door like she wasn't even seeing it.

"Effy?" Naomi asked. When she still didn't get an answer she walked over and waved her hand back and forth in front of Effy's face. "Hello?"

Blue eyes blinked, narrowed, and Effy was back. The other girl shook her head a little and refocused on Naomi. "Sorry, went off there for a bit. Ready for bed?"

It was Naomi's turn to blink. "Oh-kay," she drawled, but let it drop. She climbed onto the bed and they quickly separated the blankets evenly between them and settled down. Naomi accidentally kicked Effy's leg and the brunette chuckled.

"Hands to yourself, Campbell," she said in the lightest voice she'd used since they'd started talking on the front porch.

"You wish," Naomi shot back in the same tone. "You're not my type."

"Right. I should be smaller, a redhead with a cute smile?"

This time she kicked Effy's leg on purpose. "Good night, Effy," she said firmly. Just as the silence was getting comfortable and heavy, a thought occurred to her. "Eff?"

"Mmm?"

"The drugs I've been taking with you guys. Do they...are they known...would they give someone dreams? Strange dreams, like, really vivid ones?"

There was a long pause as Effy mulled that over. "Sometimes," she said finally. "Especially when you've got a lot of stuff going on in your subconscious. It's happened to me before. I've actually had conversations with myself."

"That didn't sound crazy at all," Naomi smirked.

"With my subconscious," Effy corrected herself. There was another long pause, and when Effy spoke again Naomi could practically_ hear_ the wicked grin in her voice. "Why? Acting out some vivid unconscious desires lately?"

"Shut up, Effy."

"I'm just saying let's keep your dreams to yourself this time, shall we?"

"_Good night, Effy_," Naomi said emphatically. She burrowed further into her pillow and tried to ignore Effy's laughter long enough to fall asleep. Once she heard the brunette's breathing even out next to her it was surprisingly easy. She'd never actually shared a bed with someone before (her mum didn't count). It was rather nice having someone close by.

Not as nice, her brain supplied somewhat unhelpfully, as sharing the bed with a certain redhead might have been, but nice all the same. For the first time Naomi actually felt comfortable with the idea that Effy was her friend. As she was falling asleep she heard sound of Ellie whining forlornly outside the door. She closed her eyes...

* * *

_...and opened them to an unfamiliar ceiling._

_"I'm going crazy, aren't I?" she blurted out before she could stop herself. "What is this?"_

_"It's a ceiling."_

_Naomi sat up straight, noting in passing that the room wasn't completely unfamiliar. It was the same flat she'd woken up to the night she'd had her first nightmare and her first dream about...well, it was best not to get into that at the moment. She was more concerned right then about the fact that that voice had been very, very familiar._

_Sure enough sitting cross-legged on the end of the (unfamiliar) bed was Emily, dressed in the same clothes she had been wearing on the night they met and watching Naomi take everything in with a cute little smile on her face._

_Naomi groaned and rubbed at her eyes. "Awesome. I set myself up for this, didn't I?" she asked rhetorically. "That talk with Effy about vivid dreams and talking with my subconscious and shit."_

_"Very likely," dream-Emily agreed. "The seed to have a chat with yourself was planted just before you went to sleep so your mind," she raised her hands to indicate the room around them, "supplied."_

_"Why?" Naomi whined. She didn't even care that she sounded like a five-year-old. She meant everything, though. Why was she having these dreams, why were her feelings for Emily so intense, why was everything happening to her right now. Why, why, why. "If I refuse to accept that this happening right now, do you go away?"_

_Dream-Emily shrugged. "You know the answer to that," she said._

_"Well, you're me," Naomi pointed out caustically. She threw herself back onto the bed and covered her face with her hands like it would stave off the impending headache at all. "So you should be able to say it. Isn't that the whole point of this conversation? To talk things out with myself?"_

_She heard her dream form of Emily sigh and Naomi almost laughed. Apparently she was even annoying **herself **at this point. "You hit your head," dream-Emily explained obediently. "You forget about it sometimes but it did happen. You hit it quite hard, actually. Plus, you had a traumatic experience that you've only talked to that wonky hospital psych about."_

_Naomi made a face into her hands as she thought of the guy whose response to her confessions of lingering fear had been 'don't do that'._

_"Exactly," dream-Emily agreed. "Tosser. So after everything that's gone on in the last few weeks you can't accept that this is your mind's way of coping? A pleasant one, I hope."_

_"It'd be more pleasant if you had less clothes," Naomi grumbled._

_"That's a different kind of dream and would be counter-productive."_

_Naomi removed her hands and lifted herself onto her elbows. Dream-Emily was grinning cheekily at her._

_"Not completely off the table, though," her dream apparition added._

_"Well as long as I have something to look forward too," Naomi said with a roll of her eyes. "Let's have this chat, shall we? To what do I owe this pleasure of a visitation from my subconscious."_

_"Quit being such a fucking coward and get over yourself."_

_Naomi's eyes widened and she choked on air as she tried to re-group herself. "What?"_

_"Quit being such a fucking coward and-"_

_"I heard you the first time," she snapped. **This is ridiculous**, she thought before she realized that thinking to yourself in a dream was rather paradoxical. "My subconscious decided to up and talk to me about how it doesn't like how I'm living my life? What the fuck?"_

_"You're thinking too much about everything," dream-Emily went on, mirroring Effy's words from earlier in the evening, which was probably the point. "Your mother loves you, you have friends now that care about you, and you fucking adore Emily. Why is it so scary to let yourself feel all of that?"_

_Naomi listened, slack-jawed, but couldn't find the words in her to respond. That was fine because her subconscious wasn't nearly through with her yet._

_"You're not made of stone and your heart is not carved from ice. You feel emotions like everyone else, but you're too scared to act on them. Maybe you don't even know yourself why that is but you need to stop. Stop being so scared of emotion. Stop being scared of getting too attached to your friends, stop being scared of how you feel about Emily. Just stop trying so hard to live in your head and live in your heart instead. It's actually quite nice."_

_Naomi felt tears pool in her eyes and blinked rapidly to try and clear them away. When that didn't work she turned over and pressed her face into the duvet to try and stop them from falling. Her shoulders shook with the effort it was taking to keep a lid on her emotions._

_"Quit holding yourself back," dream-Emily said gently. Apparently her subconscious figured that she'd gotten the point._

_"Stop," Naomi begged, her voice muffled by the blanket. "Please just stop. I get it, okay? You've done your job. You've made your fucking point."_

_Just as if this was the real world she felt the mattress shift when Emily moved around. A warm body snuggled up against her back and a small hand traced shapes up and down her arm. Naomi sniffled back her tears as she felt lips press small, comforting kisses to the back of her neck._

_"Thought this wasn't that type of dream," she said with a watery chuckle._

_"You're upset. Rules changed," Emily said simply._

_Naomi leaned back into the embrace and shivered happily when Emily's lips found a particularly sensitive spot on her neck. Abruptly her dream-world tilted and spun, like a child playing with a snow-globe. The sensation was so vivid that Naomi grabbed at the edges of the mattress to steady herself. When everything had righted itself Naomi was still on the bed and Emily was still behind her, but the grip her dream-apparition had on her arm was tight rather than comforting. It verged on painful._

_"I'm sorry," Emily's voice whispered in her ear. "But I need your help. You're missing things. You're missing important things and you need to notice them. Please." There was a pause as the word tilted again. "And, of course, now it's time for you to wake up."_

* * *

Naomi opened her eyes and tried to re-orient herself. _You know,_ she thought as she stared at her bedroom ceiling and tried to make out the swirls of paint in the darkness, _its like I don't even sleep anymore._

She spent several minutes trying to figure out what, exactly, had woken her up. She glanced out her window. It was still dark outside, with just a hint of dawn light sneaking over the horizon. Effy was still soundly asleep on the bed next to her. She even thought she still heard Ellie whining occasionally.

She was two seconds from rolling over and trying to fall back asleep (because going to college on only a few hours of sleep was not in the game plan for the day) when she heard it again, the noise that must have woken her up. A soft _ping _against her window. She parted the curtain and looked out to see a familiar figure standing on the sidewalk, stomping his feet to try and stay warm and holding something large in his arms.

"Cook?" she opened the window and called softly. "What the hell are you doing here? It's five in the bloody morning!"

"I need help," he called back. "Can you let us in?"

Naomi nodded and tried to climb out of bed without waking Effy. She knew she failed when the other girl rolled over and blinked a few times in the semi-darkness.

"What?" Effy asked sleepily.

"Cook's outside," Naomi said quietly. "He needs our help."

Effy sat up immediately and threw off the covers, all signs of sleepiness gone. Together they snuck downstairs and Naomi opened the front door to see Cook standing there with a little person fast asleep in his arms.

"Need a place for him," he said in a low voice when Naomi just stood in the doorway trying to control her confusion. "I'll explain in a bit, yeah?"

Naomi nodded and they tucked the little boy in Cook's arms onto the couch before she brought the lot of them into the kitchen and sat Cook down at the table. "Well," she said awkwardly into the silence. "Am I allowed to ask what the fuck is going on?"

Because she had seen the little boy's face as they tucked him in and he shared Cook's nose and his light brown hair and, she was positive, if his eyes were open they would have been the same shade of blue. And she knew they hadn't been friends for long but that was a pretty big thing to leave out of conversation, if Cook had a kid, if the little boy was his kid and Cook had...what? Stolen him? _Shit_, she thought, _this could get out of control._

"Relax, Naomi," Effy said. She reached over and patted Naomi's arm absently. "Paddy is Cook's little brother."

_Oh._ Well, actually, that made a lot more sense. Suddenly she felt stupid for not stopping to do the math and maybe a little ashamed for immediately jumping to the worst possible conclusion.

Cook laughed bitterly. "Yeah, just a brother, Blondie," he said. "Just my fooking flesh and blood. Did you see the bruise around his eye?" He slammed his fist against the table so loudly that both the girls jumped. "She said he ran into a door. Bull-_fooking_-shit. She's lucky I didn't rip her lungs out. I'm sorry," he apologized immediately and buried his face in his hands. "I just had to get him out and I didn't know where else to go."

"Okay," Naomi blew out all the breath in her lungs at once and sat down heavily. She picked out enough from Cook's ramble to piece together a bit of the full picture and she didn't like what she saw at all. "So, your Dad..." she let the end of the sentence hang, unsure.

"My dad's an asshole drunk who lives on a boat about a week's drive that way," he jerked his thumb to the left. "Not the same guy as Paddy's anyway."

Naomi looked quickly towards Effy, who was rubbing Cook's back comfortingly. When she saw Naomi looking at her she nodded her encouragement, a sign Naomi took as 'Keep going you're doing good'.

"Right," she mulled the last few minutes over in her head. "Hmm."

"All right, Naomi," Effy said. "I know that noise. What's going on in that brilliant mind of yours?"

Naomi blushed at the word 'brilliant' but soldiered on. "Do you know who his father is?"

Cook finally lifted his face away from his hands and Naomi steadfastly ignored the signs of tears. "A bit," he said, his forehead scrunched in confusion. "Decent bloke. Banker or something. The old broad told me once when she was pissed off her rocker that she didn't even tell him about Paddy. Didn't want another disappointment like my old man. What for?"

"But she put his name on the birth certificate?" she pressed.

"Think so, yeah."

"And where would that be?"

"Probably at the hospital where he was born, in London," Effy answered for him. "Why? What are you thinking?"

Excitement bubbled up in her chest and she grinned triumphantly. Here was a chance to help Cook; maybe it wasn't anything like the way he had saved her, but it was giving something back to him. "You don't want to leave him with your mum. Well, if we can get his father's name we can probably track him down," she explained rapidly, leaning forward. "And if he's as decent as you say he won't turn Paddy away."

A bit of the weary and pained expression he'd been sporting since he'd showed up on her porch a half hour before started to fade away then. Cook looked at her as if she had just given him the sun and the moon wrapped together with a little bow on top.

"Naomikins, you're an actual fooking genius, you know that?" He leaned across the table and kissed her soundly on the cheek.

Naomi shoved him away and scratched at the back of her neck, embarrassed. Effy gave her an approving little smile. Their miniature celebratory moment was broken abruptly by the beads in the kitchen doorway rattling. Gina Campbell rarely glared but she looked awfully close at the moment.

"Why is there a small child on my couch and what kind of conspiracy is going on in my kitchen right now? Wait," she held up a hand to stop them before they could explain, "is it anything illegal or dangerous that I probably just shouldn't know about?"

"Not really," Naomi assured her. She shrugged when her mother raised an eyebrow.

Effy snickered. "The Campbell eyebrow raise of disbelief," she said. "Now I know where Naomi gets it."

Cook laughed too. He stood up and held his hand out to Gina respectfully. "He's my brother, Ms Campbell. We just needed a place to stay for a bit. I'm Cook."

Gina's eyes changed from suspicious to welcoming in a heartbeat. She bypassed Cook's hand and reached out to pull him directly into a hug instead. Cook looked surprised for a moment before he hugged her back awkwardly.

"The one who pulled that man off of Naomi," she said when she let him go. "I should thank you as well."

Cook looked helplessly at the both of them but Naomi just shrugged and Effy smirked, very clearly saying 'I've already had to go through this'. Gina finally released him and Cook did his very best not to look emotional but Naomi could see that her mother's honest gratitude touched him. She got the feeling not a lot of people had ever really thanked James Cook for anything before.

"I'm going to grab the paper off the porch," Gina announced firmly. "Then I'm going to make you all tea, because Naomi is a shit hostess, and then," she continued over Naomi's shout of 'Hey!', "we're all going to sit down and discuss the plan I overheard my daughter talking about before I walked in."

She put actions to words and disappeared down the front hall, returning five minutes later and leaving the rolled up paper in front of Effy to put the kettle on. While it was heating she sat down with the three seventeen-year-olds in her kitchen and they hashed out a tentative plan. Paddy would stay at the Campbell's for as long as he needed to while the rest of the group made the two-hour trip to London to search for Paddy's birth certificate on Saturday.

After all of the details had been hammered out Gina whipped together a breakfast seemingly out of thin air (Naomi honestly didn't know if producing food in times of crisis was a maternal thing or just something her own mother did) and the older woman read the paper while the teenagers dug in.

"Sad," she clucked over the front page. "So very sad. It makes me think how I would react if you went missing, you know?"

"Mum, what on Earth are you on about?" Naomi asked between bites of eggs.

Gina shook the paper in her direction. "Paper did a story about unsolved missing persons cases. It's just a sad thing, I mean, some of these kids are your age! One has been missing for almost two years, the family has pretty much given up hope. Poor things."

Naomi looked at Effy and was fully expecting to share an eye-roll with the other girl over Gina's tenderheartedness, but Effy actually looked interested.

"Can I see it when you're done, Gina?" she asked politely.

Gina handed over the page immediately. "Can't read any more anyway," she said. "I'll get myself too worked up. More tea, anyone?"

Cook didn't even look up from where he was practically inhaling his food, just grunted what Naomi was vaguely positive was a yes please. Ellie trotted into the room and curled up underneath his chair, her vendetta against Effy apparently forgotten for the time being in favor of snapping up any pieces that escaped from Cook's plate.

Naomi jumped when a loud _crack!_ resounded through the kitchen. Effy's cup had dropped and shattered over the front page of the paper.

"Shit, I'm sorry Gina," she said, uncharacteristically loud. "I hope you were finished with that page."

"Clumsy much, Eff?" Cook snorted.

"Here," Naomi said, reaching for it, "let's see, maybe a bit can be saved."

Effy snatched the paper away so quickly it should have left a shadow behind. "No," she said, "it's completely ruined. I really am sorry, Gina, I'll grab you another copy today if you'd like?"

Gina watched them both with a confused little frown. "Oh, it's all right dear. That article was just upsetting me anyway. Throw it out?"

Effy nodded and balled the paper up before she shoved it firmly into the bin. Her hand hovered over the open lid for a moment before she turned around and walked back to the table where Naomi was already busy cleaning up the shards of mug.

Naomi waved her away from the wreckage when she tried to help. "I got it," she said. "Why don't you go grab a cloth or something to wipe up the water?" She walked over the bin and started to dump the shards into the bin. As she was doing so she caught sight of the opened mail on the countertop; one of the letters had her name on it. She reached over to open the letter more so she could read the whole thing.

"Naomi, no!"

Too little, too late. **"Due to psychological evaluation...be in all parties best interest...showing remorse...the court has acquiesced to summon Naomi Campbell, hereafter referred to as intended victim, to a meeting with Marcus Leeds, hereafter referred to as attempted assailant, so that he may have the opportunity to atone for his actions and prove his claim of true remorse of his actions on the night in question...resident psychologist believes it to be in the best interest of both parties for reasons of closure..."**

The rest of the shards fell out of her hand and the rest of the world fell away with them. She could hear Effy and Cook and her Mum but their voices were distant, like she was hearing them through water. Every muscle in her body locked in place and screamed in protest. They were going to make her see him, talk to him, _listen _to him. She wouldn't be able to do it. She didn't want closure, she wanted to never have to look him in the face ever again. Why couldn't they leave her alone? Why couldn't the _world _leave her alone?

Instinct took over, then. Her mind, unable to react to all this new information at once, shut down and reverted to exactly what Naomi always did in situations like this, where she couldn't handle everything that she was feeling. Unfortunately, her fight and flight reflexes were stuck firmly on flight.

Leaving Ellie scratching and whining at the door trying desperately to follow, leaving her mother and friends yelling after her, coat in one hand and shoes in the other, Naomi ran.

* * *

**A/n: Right, so first the fic pimping. #1: Kismet by InvisiMeg. It's an adorable story that involves a fortune-teller and Emily being hit in the face with a stick. #2: Turning Slowly by Peppersister. If I could marry a story, I would marry this story and have its babies. No lie. It's one of the most intensely gripping suspense stories out there right now. If you're like me you'll finish every chapter with your face looking vaguely like this 0_0. #3: Take Me Away by Ess5iveOoh. Naomi meets Emily while visiting her Dad for the holidays. I might be a little in love with this story. Just saying. **

**As for the reviews, there are way too many to answer individually. Please just know that I love you all dearly and you're all my very favorite people ever (don't tell my friends I said that). And please keep the guesses coming, I love them! (I won't ever tell you if you're right but I still love them!) PS: I may be having a bit too much fun writing the next chapter of TMAS. Call it stress release? **

**Cheers! ~FS  
**


	7. Just Breathe

**A/n: Please try to contain your surprise. Well, the only thing I can do right now is apologize. Anyone who reads TMAS knows the reason for the initial delay (the accident and the subsequent loss of my laptop). When I lost so much of this story I was actually really depressed about it. I got very stuck, even though I knew I'd already written what happened once before. Does that make sense? That probably doesn't make sense. Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to wristducky, whose review unknowingly helped break through my funk and get this out. I made this chapter extra long and threw in some extra Naomily that wasn't around the first time just for you all :D Un-beta'd, as usual, so all mistakes are mine, as usual.**

**(PS: Subtle Hunger Games reference in here. Very subtle.)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Skins. I just play-fight in the woods with it sometimes.

* * *

**

"But you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable. And life's like an hourglass glued to the table. No one can find the rewind button, girl. So cradle your head in your hands...and breathe. Just breathe. Oh, breathe. Just...breathe." Breathe (2 AM), Anna Nalick

* * *

In moments of panic, the human mind completely loses control of itself and scatters. Sometimes this is helpful and can lead to the brain making connections between two seemingly unconnected things and opening up a world of possibilities. Sometimes it throws up memories long forgotten. And sometimes those are bright and helpful, a memory about a summer day or a joke.

And sometimes it just fucks with your head.

Naomi's trainers were not right for the kind of mad dash across the park that she was participating in at the moment. Her shoes had no traction against the grass and the morning dew; they slipped back and forth and around until all Naomi could concentrate on was the physical.

Keeping her footing. Ignoring the burn in the muscles of her legs and in her lungs. Ignoring the stares of people as they turned to watch the strange teenager in pyjamas and a jacket running past them. That was the only thing filling her thoughts. It was the only thing she could concentrate on and stay sane.

Her footing. The burn. The wind whipping past her face. The need to get away from what she had left behind.

_Like in my dream. _

Naomi slipped a little bit on the ground. She didn't stop to completely regain her balance but plunged on, towards the more wooded part of the park.

Her dream. That stupid fucking recurring nightmare. She'd had it every night that week except last night. The nightmare where she is being chased without relent, where she is running from a being that is so angry with her that it's hard to comprehend. The sound of wings above it all. Wings and the frantic beating of her own heart.

_**CAW!**_

A raven voiced his displeasure at her for getting too close to its home. Suddenly, loudly, and right in her ear.

Naomi screamed and completely lost her footing, crashing into the ground so hard she was surprised the earth didn't shake with the impact. Her hands reached forward to stop herself and slid through the wet leaves. Her knees were not so lucky; her knees hit the gravel of the path and kept going. She yelped at the sharp stinging that erupted all over her kneecaps.

There, in the woods of the park where she'd first made friends with Effy , surrounded by trees and animals and the noise of people having a happy, normal life somewhere beyond the treeline, Naomi felt herself losing control.

Her breath was coming short and fast and in little spurts. She felt like she couldn't get enough but the truth was she was getting too much, the extra oxygen was making her lightheaded and dizzy. She limped over to a tree and sat down, sliding her back down the bark until she was sitting on the ground.

_"Quit being such a fucking coward and get over yourself." _

That's what her subconscious had said, right? Well she was pretty sure that being brave meant admitting when you couldn't deal with something. When you needed help. First one, then another tear slid out of her eyes and down her cheeks. They made tracks in the dirt there and dripped off her chin as they started to flow harder and faster.

_Well I need help now_, she thought. _I really fucking do_.

She sniffled pitifully and pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs to try and keep her emotions inside of her chest. If she didn't have the pressure of her body wrapped tightly into a ball she was afraid she'd fall completely apart at the seams. Wasn't this the moment when some people prayed? She wasn't sure if she believed in God and even if He existed she was almost positive an all-mighty being didn't spend a majority of its time listening to the thoughts of random seventeen-year-olds. But...at just this moment?

_Please._

Footsteps along the path. It almost made Naomi cry harder; she didn't want to have to deal with some stranger who wanted to know if she was okay and _oh my god are you all right how can I help _and any other stupid things that people think up when they see someone they don't know in distress.

"Naomi?"

_Thank you_.

The footsteps sped up until they were flat out sprinting towards her. The person running didn't slow their momentum and almost crashed when they stopped and stooped down to be on her level. Gentle hands brushed the dirt and bits of leaf out her hair, pulled her jacket more tightly around her. Naomi closed her eyes tighter in an effort to stop the tears but that just made a few more spill out instead. The hands quickly wiped those tears away and stayed, thumbs brushing over her cheeks and under her eyes.

"Oh _Naomi_."

Naomi stopped being such a fucking coward and got over herself. She leaned into the comfort instead of away from it and cried into Emily's shoulder. If Emily Fitch wasn't a godsend at this moment then whatever help Naomi had been asking for before could go throw itself off the nearest bridge.

To Emily's everlasting credit, she didn't complain once about kneeling in the dirt and comforting the girl she'd just been on a date with less than 24 hours ago as she completely and utterly lost it. The small redhead didn't even blink, just wrapped her arms around Naomi and very gently started rocking back and forth, murmuring softly into the blonde's ear.

For a few minutes after Naomi cried herself out she still stayed there, face buried in the shoulder of Emily's shirt. The world was nice inside the shirt. Even though the early morning was cold her face was warm from the heat from Emily's body and Emily smelled nice, a little citrusy and a little like clean laundry, and the world was just infinitely better, she decided, when she was hidden away in the comfort of Emily's shirt.

She felt a hand hover tentatively over her shoulder and when she leaned towards the touch the hand threaded itself into her hair and started to rub the base of her skull comfortingly.

"Naomi, are you all right?" The hand paused its motion and Naomi got the feeling Emily would have hit herself in the forehead if her arms weren't currently full with a distressed blonde. "Shit. You know what, that was the world's stupidest question. Please ignore it."

"I'm all right," she said without opening her eyes or pulling away. She mumbled it into Emily's shoulder instead.

She heard and felt Emily let out a shaky breathe of relief. "Good," that delightfully husky voice said. "Bringing you to a hospital would have put a damper on our plans for Friday."

This startled a laugh out of Naomi. She pulled away very reluctantly and leaned back against the tree. Emily let go of her, Naomi thought, just as reluctantly. Her one hand sliding out of her hair and the other trailing all the way down Naomi's arms as she let go. When Naomi's eyelids fluttered open at last the first thing she saw was Emily's warm brown eyes watching her with concern.

"Hi," Naomi said. She tried to force a smile but had the feeling it looked more like a pained grimace.

"Hi," Emily answered, her voice low and laced with worry.

They both seemed to realize at the exact same time that Emily's hands had stopped their retreat and were resting on Naomi's bent knees. She pulled away but Naomi grabbed her right wrist before she could retract her hand completely and cupped Emily's hand between both of her own. She wasn't ready to relinquish the comfort that Emily's touch provided at the moment.

Emily squeezed her hand and sat on the ground, nudging Naomi a little with her hip until the blond pushed over to make room so that they could both lean against the tree. They sat like that for a while, Naomi still very much curled up in a little ball and calming down by degrees, helped monumentally by Emily's body warming her side and Emily's thumb rubbing small circles onto the back of her hand.

"What are you doing out here?" Naomi asked after a while. She turned her head to look at Emily and laughed bitterly. "It's almost six in the morning."

"Best time to run," Emily answered simply with a little smile. "The world is still quiet. What are _you _doing here?"

Naomi really looked at Emily for the first time that morning. Her sneakers were much more suited to keeping balance on the wet grass than Naomi's were and Naomi reached up to touch the damp spot on her t-shirt where Naomi's tears had soaked into the fabric. Her red hair was turned the colour of blood with sweat and sticking haphazardly, and very adorably, to her forehead. If Naomi wasn't so numb at the moment she felt like she could appreciate the shorts Emily was wearing a whole lot better. Or, well, Naomi fumbled internally as her mind raced over the length of Emily's legs and a spike of heat shot through her nerves, maybe not as numb as she thought.

Emily cleared her throat and smirked when Naomi jerked her eyes away from Emily's legs and back up to her eyes. Thankfully the redhead looked more amused than annoyed. The amusement faded a moment later and was replaced with a sad little half-smile. "You don't have to tell me-"

"I got attacked outside the club," Naomi blurted out suddenly. _Fucking hell, sodding word vomit_, Naomi thought viciously. _You couldn't have just said you failed a test or something? _She hadn't actually meant for those words to come out of her mouth. It was just...Emily had comforted her without hesitation. She deserved to know why, at least a little bit.

Emily's eyebrows shot up and her grip on Naomi's hand tightened but beyond that she controlled her initial reaction to the confession and Naomi was grateful.

But after a bit Naomi noticed that Emily didn't look surprised. In fact, she looked frustrated. Naomi watched as Emily's hand balled into a fist and she hit her own leg once and then twice.

"Stop," Naomi grabbed her hand before Emily could hit herself again. "What are you doing?"

"I'm an idiot," Emily said despondently. She let go of Naomi's hand and covered her face to avoid looking Naomi in the eyes. "I knew someone got attacked. It happened when you were leaving the club; of course the boss is going to keep an eye on the situation. And I knew, _I knew_, the victim was named Naomi. And I didn't think to connect...god, I'm the biggest idiot to ever live. I'm sorry."

Naomi grabbed her wrists and tugged until Emily looked up at her. There were tears in those big brown eyes and Naomi's heart clenched painfully, her own pain momentarily forgotten.

"You're not an idiot," Naomi said forcefully. She tightened her grip on Emily's wrist when the redhead immediately shook her head to deny it. "You're not."

Emily stared at Naomi's hands on her wrists for a long time before she twisted them around until Naomi was holding on to her hands again. The sad little half-smile made a reappearance. Normally Naomi liked to catalogue the different smiles she could get out of Emily, but that particular one could go away now. "When did this become you comforting me?" she asked quietly. "I'm pretty sure it started as the other way around."

"Give and take," Naomi answered lightly. "Up and down, left and right. Isn't that how all good relationships go?"

The word dropped between them like it had actual weight; Naomi could hear the air whistle between Emily's lips as she sucked in a breath. Her own heart had stopped for a moment and then started again at twice the speed. The only coherent thoughts running through her mind were a string of curses, mostly directed at herself.

Then Emily squeezed her hands. "Top and bottom?" she added, and she turned to grin at Naomi with an absolutely breathtaking smile.

Naomi snorted and bumped her shoulder into Emily's. "You have the dirtiest mind," she accused.

Emily shrugged. "What can I say? If it wasn't for the gutter my mind would be homeless."

Silence hung in the air between them again, but it was far more comfortable than before. Emily's thumb returned to its former divine duties of tracing patterns onto the back of Naomi's hand. After a while Naomi let Emily tug her up and onto a fallen tree nearby, up off the cold ground. They sat on the log and watched for a bit as the sun broke out between the usual Bristol clouds and the trees and threw scattered beams of light over the park. The additional sun did nothing to warm the air, but that was to be expected.

"Have you talked to anyone about it?" Emily asked quietly, as if the gentle peace of the moment would be broken as soon as the words left her mouth.

Naomi took a deep breath and her hand tightened. "Once or twice," she admitted reluctantly. "Mum thinks if I just told the whole story to someone it might help but..." she raised and lowered the shoulder that wasn't pressed against Emily diffidently.

The redhead nodded pensively. She lifted their combined hands and studied them before she spoke again. "You could talk to me," she offered, and her eyes flicked over to gauge Naomi's reaction.

So many people had offered that. Had used that exact sentence to try and get her to open up. Her Mum, Effy, a few of the nurses at the hospital, even Kieran had offered half-heartedly (although he had obviously been uncomfortable and looked rather relieved when Naomi had told him he could 'go watch football now'). But Naomi had refused with each and every one of them. Only here, only now, only with Emily, had she even felt the compulsion to talk about it.

What would happen if she let that feeling go? Would it ever come back? So she did it; she turned her body so that she straddled the log, one leg on either side and Emily copied her. Still keeping a tight hold on her hands, slowly but surely, Naomi started talking.

She started with the beginning of the day, getting up and getting ready. Going to school and being asked out (she stopped here to assure the beautiful redhead holding her hand that the guy had been "a complete twat" who she had only agreed to go with "because he offered to pay the cover"). She continued on to getting ready and having the shittiest time of her life after the band left. Naomi was proud the way her voice didn't change at all when she got to the part about meeting Mikes and Leeds in the street.

About that point in the story Naomi felt Emily start to tremble and she whipped her head up, already frowning with concern. At first she thought it was just a reaction to the story, but as she watched the redhead shake the realization hit that Emily hadn't exactly woken up this morning and gotten dressed with the idea in mind that she was going to be sitting for any length of time comforting a distressed blonde.

"Shit," she cursed.

Emily jumped. "What?" she asked, matching Naomi frown for frown.

Naomi tugged their hands apart and started rubbing Emily's arms, trying to warm them with the friction. "You must be fucking freezing!" she exclaimed

Teeth clattered together when Emily chuckled at her. Naomi pulled back to look at her like she was crazy and Emily laughed harder. "I'm sorry," the redhead apologized through her giggles, "it's just you're telling me such an emotional story and I thought you cursed because you were upset, but you're worried about me being a little cold. Don't even think about it!" she ordered when Naomi started to take off her jacket.

"You're freezing," Naomi snapped. She ignored the order and continued to fumble with the zipper until it obeyed her and she got her jacket open. The cold blast of air that rushed in when she opened it up made her regret the action almost immediately.

Emily grabbed the front of her jacket when Naomi tried to take it off. "Quit it," she ordered seriously.

Naomi gave the redhead her very best '_you've got to be joking_' look. "I've been wearing it the whole time," she said stubbornly. "The heat has stored up. I'll be fine for a bit."

"You're wearing pyjamas underneath!" Emily pointed out in such an exasperated voice that it was almost funny.

"You're wearing shorts!" Naomi said back in the same tone.

They both glared at each other, neither willing to back down and let the other win. Naomi felt Emily's grip on her jacket tighten even as she shivered.

"Stop being stubborn," Emily growled.

"Stop being stupid," Naomi snapped back.

"Yeah, well, you seem to inspire it in me."

It was such a cryptic comment, said in such a strange tone of voice, that Naomi almost forgot about their stand-off in favor of examining it further. Then another set of shivers made Emily almost lose her grip and Naomi used the moment of weakness to tug herself away from Emily's hands. An idea had crawled up into the back of her mind and nested down comfortably. Naomi mentally considered it, twisted and turned it to look at it from all angles, weighed the pros and cons. If it played out Naomi would officially dub it the best fucking idea she'd ever had.

"Fine," she said. She held her jacket open, arms outstretched as much as the piece of clothing would allow. "We'll share."

Emily's eyes widened and Naomi watched as the back of her neck and the tips of her ears got red. It was probably only the cold wind that kept her blush at bay on her face. It was utterly adorable.

"I - I, um," she spluttered.

Naomi bit her lip to contain her laughter. Emily always seemed so confident and smooth that the idea that she could be reduced to one syllable answers and stuttering was almost too funny for words.

"Let's go, Fitch," she tried very hard to keep her laughter out of her voice but she didn't think she succeeded very well. "Sun won't shine forever."

"I'm just...are you laughing at me?" Emily accused. She crossed her arms and huffed.

"Absolutely not," Naomi said with a straight face.

Emily stuck out her tongue. Her piercing glinted in the early morning light. "Funny, Campbell," she said.

Naomi laughed and wiggled around to emphasize the open jacket. She felt another spike of heat run through her when Emily's eyes roved over her thinly-covered pyjama-clad torso and darkened. Naomi licked her lips nervously but held firm. "Offer expires in ten seconds," she said, her voice lower.

The redhead squeaked and very quickly scooted over, swinging both legs to one side of the log so they wouldn't clash with Naomi's. This put her directly between Naomi's legs and she immediately slipped her arms around Naomi and pressed herself close so the blond could wrap the jacket around both of them. It was warm and intimate and Naomi felt herself melting on the inside.

Honestly, it scared her a little bit, these flashes of deep affection and genuine care for Emily amidst all the attraction and lust. She thought that with Emily pressed so firmly up against her, their skin flushed and overheating underneath the coat, that she would think of nothing else but how much she desperately wished that Emily would just ravish her already.

And yes, there was that flood of desire, and yes, Emily's hands locking together and pressing against her back sent little sparks of electricity along the nerves there, but that wasn't all. She was more focused on the content little smile that she could just make out from her awkward vantage point and the warm feeling in the pit of her stomach when Emily tucked her head comfortably under Naomi's chin. She paid more attention to the happy little noise that Emily made under her breath and the way their bodies seemed to lock together.

Then again, it felt just as natural as allowing Emily to comfort her had felt before. Maybe she should start taking her own advice and let go for once.

"Finish the story?" Emily requested softly, abruptly knocking Naomi out of her internal monologue.

Naomi nodded very slightly, careful not to dislodge the redhead in her arms, and continued on to Leeds's attack. She was positive that Emily could feel her heart and the way it was pounding and racing but that was okay, because they were pressed so tightly together (for _warmth_, obviously) that she could feel Emily's heart too. It was just as fast.

So she kept going. She got all the way through the attack and on to the rescue. By the time she reached the bit where she passed out in the ambulance Emily was smiling into her shoulder.

"What?" Naomi asked quietly. It felt like they were in their own little bubble of space, hidden inside Naomi's jacket. The world was muffled around them and if she spoke too loudly it would break.

"You have good friends, Naomi," Emily answered, just as quietly. Maybe she felt the fragility of the bubble too.

"They weren't even my friends at the time," she couldn't stop herself from pointing out.

Emily shrugged a little bit and Naomi's body shifted with the movement. They were pressed too closely together for one to move independently of the other. Naomi felt like this should be awkward, sharing such an intimate moment with someone she hadn't known for all that long. But something in the back of her mind said that this was okay; that this wasn't just anyone this was _Emily _and for some reason, some strange twisted reason, maybe after all they'd shared that morning, maybe because she'd already sobbed her heart out onto Emily's shoulder and that made it okay.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Emily said pensively. "From what you've been saying they've been your friends for longer than you think."

Naomi made a low questioning sound in the back of her throat and Emily's breath hitched. "Explain?" the blonde prompted.

Emily swallowed once and cleared her throat. "Hmm. You said yourself that you were a bit of a loner before, yes?" she asked, and waited for Naomi's nod. "How does the general student body react to loners?"

"Bit of teasing, bit of mocking, some odd looks," Naomi replied instantly. "Bullies latch onto them as easy targets for harassment."

"And did that ever happen to you?"

Naomi opened her mouth to say of course it did but the words died halfway up. She quickly brought up all the memories of school that she could latch on to and sifted through them. There were days spent eating lunch quietly out in the courtyard and afternoons curled up studying in the library. Kids passed in the halls but she was never shoved around or jeered at like some. If the bullies of the school weren't nice to her they weren't outright mean either. It seemed that no one really found it worth their time to harass Naomi Campbell.

"Well, no," she admitted.

Emily nodded against her shoulder like this made perfect sense. "And if everyone listens to Effy Stonem and her friends, and Effy Stonem says 'Don't bother Naomi'..." she let the sentence trail off.

Naomi pulled back just far enough to create space while still keeping them both inside the jacket. She did this so she could stare at Emily in awe. "That makes a twisted kind of sense," she breathed.

"Well I have a twisted brain," Emily teased. She eliminated the space between them again so that she could rest her head against Naomi's shoulder and the blonde let her. They stayed wrapped up in their comfortable silence until the sun was well and truly over the horizon.

"I should probably tell you what happened today," Naomi said as the sun finished sneaking up on the world.

"You don't have to," Emily assured her.

"I want to."

Emily kept quiet as Naomi gathered her thoughts together. Idly her hand start tracing patterns across Emily's back. The redhead's breath hitched and Naomi grinned. It was nice, knowing the she had the same effect on Emily that Emily had on her. The feeling faded quickly when her thoughts swerved back on track.

She finally settled on how she wanted to phrase the next part. "My mum hid a letter from me. The county wants me to go talk to my attacker."

"WHAT?" Emily exploded out of the jacket and out of Naomi's arms. Her eyes were wide and angry and her hands clenched themselves into fists seemingly of their own accord. "_Bastards. _Is that even legal?" Calm, comforting Emily was gone. This Emily looked ready to attack anyone who so much as came close to touching Naomi.

And _damn _if it wasn't hot as hell.

Also frustrating, though, because Emily started shivering again almost the moment she left the confines of the jacket. Naomi cleared her throat impatiently and held the jacket open again for emphasis. Emily flushed a little, probably in embarrassment over her shouting, and quickly scooted back over to wrap up in the jacket again.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "Go on?"

Naomi controlled her laughter, barely. Emily Fitch was cuter than a kitten with a string.

"It's legal," she answered Emily's outburst. She hurried on when Emily stiffened and seemed likely to explode again. "Because they're not forcing me to. As far as I could gather before I started panicking they're not going to _make _me do anything I don't want to do. It was just the idea, you know, of seeing him again and..."

She couldn't stop the shiver that ran down her spine. Emily made a comforting little humming sound.

"I just don't know _why_," Naomi burst out suddenly. "I suppose I just want to know why. Why that night, why me, why _anything_. It doesn't make sense right now and I think that's what bothers me the most."

Emily was silent for a long time. So long that Naomi thought maybe she wasn't even going to say anything.

"I think you should go."

Naomi controlled her surprise, but just barely. She also controlled her initial reaction, which was a feeling of betrayal. Emily probably had a good reason for saying that. This was the same girl who, not five minutes ago, had been just as angry as Naomi at the thought of Naomi seeing her attacker again. She must have a good reason for changing her mind. Still...

"You want me to?" she hated how little her voice sounded right then.

"Absolutely not," Emily said so vehemently that it was impossible to doubt what she was saying. "But you're always going to be thinking about it, if you don't go and ask him. You're always going to be wondering why. Unfortunately, the only way to know why is to ask the man himself."

That made sense. That made completely perfect sense. The feeling of betrayal went away and was replaced with a warmth around her heart. The warmth kept the fear that Emily's words had sparked in her at bay and allowed her to make up her mind, at least a little bit.

"You're right," she said. "I'm never going to get control of the situation until I face it head on. So, you're right."

"Of course I am," Emily said smugly.

Naomi flicked her ear and Emily yelped indignantly. Apparently the physical abuse was not enough to make her pull away though and they continued to sit in silence as the world woke up around them.

"Control," Emily said suddenly.

Naomi's grip tightened around her momentarily in surprise. She bit her lip to stop any kind of sarcastic retort and limited herself instead to saying, "What?"

"You said you want control of the situation," Emily explained. "I bet that was one of the scariest bits of the whole thing. Not having control."

Naomi mulled this over in her head. Sometimes talking to Emily was like talking to Effy. She said things that were completely out there that, upon further inspection, made an appalling amount of sense.

"Yes," she said finally, with conviction. "I hated feeling so helpless and losing so much control."

It occurred to her suddenly, the way all good ideas do, that she was lucky she had that dream about Emily last night. She very much doubted she would be as responsive to Emily picking holes in her walls today if the redhead hadn't also been doing so last night in the form of Naomi's own subconscious.

"All right, then," Emily said. She pulled back and scooted herself backwards until she was completely out of the jacket and back into the open air. Naomi felt oddly cold, even though _she _was the one who was still wrapped up in something warm.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

Emily bounced to her feet and held out a hand for Naomi to take. "I'm giving you back control," she said.

Naomi raised an eyebrow and let Emily pull her to her feet. The little redhead started to lead her back into the woods and Naomi stopped, tugging on Emily's hand to make her stop as well.

"What are you doing?" she repeated.

Emily rolled her eyes. "Will you just trust me for five seconds?" she demanded, and started towing Naomi along again.

_Yes_, Naomi thought internally. _I'll trust you_. And **that **was the scariest thought of all. That she trusted Emily.

Emily led them a few more feet in, to an area that was a little more cleared of trees. It wasn't a clearing or a meadow by any stretch of the imagination but they could probably move around comfortably without smacking into foliage.

"Please don't tell me you sparkle," Naomi said dryly.

"What?" Emily spluttered.

Naomi lifted her hands to indicate their surroundings. "We're in a meadow, sort of. In the woods. This is vaguely Twilight of you, Emily. If you start to sparkle I'm out of here."

"Number one, I am not a vampire," Emily huffed and crossed her arms. "Number two, even if I was a vampire I would never do something as pathetic as _sparkle_. Number three," here she paused and raised her eyebrows at Naomi, "how in the world do you know about that?"

Naomi flushed from her neck to the tops of her ears. "I saw the movie, okay?" she grumbled. "Let's just move on with our lives shall we?"

"You brought it up."

"Shut up, Emily."

"I'm just saying if you didn't want to talk about it you shouldn't have accused me of sparkling."

"Emily!"

"Well I wanted you shouting my name, but not like that."

Naomi's jaw dropped as she gaped at Emily in astonishment as she blushed darkened significantly. All thought of letters from the county and attackers and friends with little brothers disappeared in favor of the electricity currently shooting through her veins. The dirty little devil that lived inside of Naomi's brain made an appearance, jumping up and down and rubbing its hands together gleefully at the thought: _Emily thinks about doing dirty things to me. _

The redhead was smirking and she looked so absurdly proud of the reaction she got out of Naomi that the blonde couldn't think it was anything but funny. And the smirk. The smirk was killing her. It was one part sexy but the other two parts said, _I have a smirk. It's cute. Look. Look at how cute my smirk is. _

"So if it's not to prove that you're secretly a supernatural being in disguise, why _did _you bring me over here?" Naomi asked.

Emily's eyes flicked over Naomi's shoulder suddenly. It could have been a trick of the light but she could have sworn that a very deliberate shadow had fallen over their little clearing. Two seconds later Emily's smile was back. She lifted her arms and spun around once. "The room," she said.

"The room?" Naomi echoed.

Emily nodded and lifted her hands up in a guarded position in front of her face. "You want control," she said. "You're going to learn how to control something like that again. Hands up."

It clicked suddenly in Naomi's head. "You're going to teach me how to _fight?" _She asked incredulously.

"Yup," Emily said simply. "Hands up."

Naomi ignored her. "How do you even know how to fight?" she asked.

"I work in a club. My father is a fitness buff. I grew up in London with two siblings. Choose one," Emily shot back. She made a little 'come on' motion with her hands. "Let's go, Naomi. Hands up."

Naomi sighed and brought her hands up until they mostly mimicked Emily's. "This is stupid," she said just before Emily shot forward and knocked her off her feet.

One moment she was standing the next Emily was leaning over her and offering a hand up. "You want to try that again?" Emily asked.

Naomi scowled at her and let Emily pull her to her feet again. Slowly but surely Emily ran her through moves. Feet more evenly spaced and grounded, it was tougher for people to knock you over then. Hands more to the sides, protecting your whole face and not just the front. Emily taught her how to break a hold by hitting the side of someone's wrist, how to lift her arm up and around and back down on someone's elbows if they were trying to choke her, how the higher up on the instep is much more effective a target if you want someone to be completely unable to follow you. Finally she had Naomi bring her hands up again and she tried to knock her off her feet like she did the first time.

Naomi was ready, though, and this time they both went rolling to the ground. The both rolled and giggled and twisted around, wrestling like a pair of five year olds until finally Naomi surrendered and Emily rolled onto her side, still laughing. Naomi chuckled, staring up at the clouds overhead as the day well and truly began. It was probably time for school soon. She heard Emily sigh and turned her head to look at the redhead. Brown eyes were staring at her intently.

"What?" she asked, abruptly self-conscious under the look Emily was giving her.

"You're fucking gorgeous," Emily said in that special way people talk sometimes when it's obvious they're not actually thinking about what they're saying.

Naomi snorted and felt another blush work its way up her neck. Honestly, she'd blushed more in the few days she'd known Emily Fitch then she ever had before in her entire life. "I'm in my pyjamas and covered in dirt," she deflected.

"Exactly," Emily agreed. She reached out and brushed a hand through Naomi's hair, carefully picking out a stray leaf. "And you're still gorgeous. How do you do that?"

It was an innocent question. It wasn't contrived or used to work an angle. It wasn't said with a leer or in a dirty tone of voice, like it could have been. It wasn't fake. Emily was being completely open; she honestly wondered how Naomi could still look good covered in dirt with leaves in her hair.

And Naomi honestly and completely could not help herself for what happened next. For being a lesson that was all about giving her control, it was completely out of her control when she leaned forward and kissed Emily. She couldn't _not _kiss Emily in that moment. It was a physical impossibility.

It started off as a quick and sweet kiss and got very hot, very quickly.

Emily's breath hitched and she reached up to thread her fingers through Naomi's hair and pull her closer. Naomi rolled a little to the right so that Emily was completely beneath her, relishing the roaring sound in her ears and the fantastic feeling of the full length of Emily's body against her own. One of Emily's hand remained in Naomi's hair and the other snuck under her shirt to run up her back, trying to pull the blonde impossibly closer. She bit on Naomi's bottom lip and quickly soothed the spot with her tongue a moment later.

Naomi moaned at the sensation and it seemed to ignite a fire inside the redhead. Emily took control and flipped them over, pinning Naomi beneath her and straddling her waist, breaking the kiss only for as long as it took to attack Naomi's mouth from the other side. Naomi reached down to grab the tops of Emily's thighs and bring their hips closer together. It was Emily's turn to moan and Naomi swallowed the sound, opening her mouth to deepen the kiss and feeling fire dance through her blood when she felt Emily's tongue touch hers. She tasted _fantastic_, like mint and coffee.

Somewhere close by, maybe on the path they'd just left, a jogger playing loud rap music ran through. Emily pulled away with a gasp and Naomi almost groaned aloud at the loss of contact. She was ready to pull Emily back down again but the brief moment of respite let them both clear their heads.

They were both breathing hard and fast as if they'd finished running a mile. Naomi couldn't stop herself from staring at the way Emily's chest was heaving as the redhead fought to regain her breath.

"We're snogging in the middle of a park," Emily said after a few minutes of the sounds of them both trying to remember how to breathe properly again being the only noise in the clearing.

"We are," Naomi agreed. Mostly because that was about the limit of her brain's capabilities at the moment.

Emily _did _groan out loud and she rolled off Naomi (who was _very _disappointed when this happened). "My hormones say let's go," Emily said with a sigh, "but my head says that's a little too fast. I try not to snog girls amongst foliage until at least the second date."

Even with her heart still going a million times a minute, Naomi knew she agreed with that. She bit her lip to keep her laughter in check. "Duly noted. Can your head have a chat with my hormones?" she asked plaintively, and Emily laughed.

"Sure," Emily said. "Just give my head a few minutes to remember how to form coherent thoughts and we'll be good."

Naomi laughed again and looked over. Emily was lying next to her, her face turned up to the sky but her eyes closed. She was still breathing hard, although not nearly as much, and her mouth was swollen from being kissed. From _Naomi's _kisses.

The heat was back. To battle the urge to kiss Emily again she lifted her arm around and hugged the other girl instead. Emily giggled and wrapped her arms around Naomi's arm, running the hug awkwardly without moving from her current position.

They stayed like that for a bit, but then finally Naomi sighed. They were so close together that the outburst of breath moved Emily's hair a little bit. She knew if she didn't leave now to get ready she'd never make it to Roundview in time for classes. "I don't feel like going to school today," she whispered.

"So don't," Emily said simply.

Naomi frowned. "I'm not going to spend the day moping in my room. I've done that enough to last a lifetime, thanks."

"So don't do that, either. Meet me back here in an hour," Emily offered instead of an answer.

Naomi raised an eyebrow. "Emily Fitch, are you actively helping me bunk off classes for the day?"

Emily opened her eyes smirked at her. "That depends on what your answer is."

It was pretty obvious, to Naomi at least, what the answer was going to be. Go to classes where she probably already knew the material, where she was going to be miserable and overthink everything, or spend the day with a pretty redhead who made her heart race. Tough decision, right?

There was a little smudge of dirt on Emily's nose. Probably from Naomi, who had dirt just about everywhere at this point. Naomi smiled and her arm reached out without permission from her brain at all. She brushed the dirt off affectionately. "Thirty minutes it is, then." She rolled away from Emily and stood up. She watched as Emily bounced off the ground and started jogging back in the direction that Naomi assumed she came from. Naomi's eyes watched flickered up and down her body as she watched the redhead leave.

Emily waved a hand over her shoulder as she started jogging again. "Stop perving at my arse and go get dressed, Campbell!" she ordered.

_Busted_, Naomi thought sheepishly. She smiled to herself and started back towards her house, silently running scenarios through her head for how to explain to her mum that she wasn't going to school today.

* * *

Gina Campbell was either the worst mum ever or the best. There didn't seem to be a happy medium that existed between the two. She was still sitting at the kitchen table, tapping her fingers against the wooden surface (in a move that would be intimately familiar to Naomi if she had ever had the opportunity to watch herself be nervous) when Naomi walked back in. The older woman immediately jumped up and rushed over, probably expecting having to comfort an emotional mess, and stopped short.

"You're smiling," she said obviously.

Naomi rolled her eyes at her mother and walked past her upstairs. Gina followed.

"You're smiling," Gina repeated. "And you're not upset."

They reached Naomi's room and she started opening and shutting drawers, looking a bit desperately for something to wear. Emily hadn't actually said what they were going to do so she figured she couldn't go wrong with a jeans, jumper, and jacket combo. Maybe with a hat for good measure since it was getting awfully chilly out nowadays.

"You're smiling and you're not upset and you're getting ready for school?" Gina looked torn between being confused and being exasperated. "Have we entered a different dimension?"

Gina followed her as Naomi walked into her bathroom and didn't blink an eye when the teenager stripped down and jumped into the shower. It hadn't been lost on her at all how dirty and roughed up Naomi had looked upon arriving back home.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Gina asked as Naomi attempted to take the world's quickest and most thorough shower as she tried to get all the dirt off her in the shortest amount of time possible.

"Not really," was the muffled answered over the sound of water. Gina was silent the whole time Naomi was in the shower, frowning thoughtfully, but did not stay silent when she got out. Naomi jumped out, actually, with a little bounce, and checked herself in the mirror. When she was satisfied that she was completely clean she went back to her room to get dressed.

"You can't do that!" Gina protested. "You left here running like a bat out of hell and I was worried _sick_ that you were going to come back a mess. Which you did," she added as an afterthought. "just not the kind of mess I thought you would be."

Naomi paused halfway between putting on her new shirt and rolled her eyes at her mother again. She hesitated for a moment before striding over and giving the older woman a quick hug. "I _was _upset," she admitted. "But I met a friend in the park and she helped me talk about a few things."

Gina's eyes lit up. "You talked to someone?" she asked excitedly.

"You make it sound like I'm mute," Naomi muttered dryly.

"Sorry," Gina apologized with a flip of her hand, lightly brushing away Naomi's grouchiness. "It's just such a rare occurrence, love. I'm happy though. It looks like it did you a world of good. You're not going to school today, are you?"

_Oh Gina Campbell, you're a quick one_, Naomi thought. Out loud she said, "No." All the way home she had run through different ideas in her head before settling on the truth. "I'm meeting Emily at the park again in a little bit and we're going off for the day."

"Emily?" her mum's whole face lit up this time. "Coffee-date Emily?"

"Could you please, _please _not act so happy that I actually have a social life?" Naomi begged. "It makes me feel like a social leper or something."

Very wisely, Gina did not comment on that. "Cook and Effy already left for school," she offered up instead. "Paddy's still asleep on the couch downstairs. It looks like he'll be staying there for a bit. And about that letter..."

Naomi paused again, this time in the act of tying up her shoes. "I'll make my decision today," she said, mentally adding that she'd kind of already made her decision so it wasn't a complete lie.

She had both her mum and her dog following her as she went back downstairs. She turned on both of them when she got to the front door. "I'm perfectly capable of seeing myself out," she said blandly to her mother. "And you, little girl, cannot come with." Ellie whined and looked dejected. The dog might not know human speech but she could probably hear the word 'no' in that sentence.

"Be good, have fun, make good choices" Gina said. "Various other motherly platitudes that I'm supposed to tell you about now."

"I'm pretty sure you're supposed to tell me to go to school," Naomi pointed out.

Gina shrugged. "Yes, well, since when have I ever done anything I'm supposed to?"

"Touché." Naomi leaned forward quickly and kissed her mother on the cheek. "Thanks for this, mum. For not making a big deal out of it I mean."

"Oh, I'm making a big deal out of it," Gina teased lightly. "You better be bringing this Emily home with you soon. I want to meet this person who has turned my daughter into an actual human being."

"And now you've ruined the moment," Naomi sighed. "Bye."

"I'm serious about you bringing her home, Naomi!"

"_Goodbye_." She shut the door firmly behind her and let the cold wind wipe away her blush on the way back to the park.

* * *

If she wasn't skipping on the way back to the park it was mostly due to her iron self-control. Naomi Campbell does not, on principle, skip happily. She does on occasion, however, have an extra bounce in her step that may or may not be directly related to a tiny, cute little redhead that she could just see lounging on a park bench near the spot that they'd vacated less than an hour ago.

_Fucking Emily Fitch_, she thought incredulously, and ignored the dirty little devil that had reappeared suddenly in the back of her brain and added, _yes you'd like to be, wouldn't you? _

"Fancy meeting you here," she said lightly as she walked up to her. Emily looked scrumptious, with her jeans and her long-sleeved green shirt and her leather jacket. Naomi decided right then and there that she'd made the right choice. A dose of Emily Fitch was exactly what she needed today.

"Isn't it a wonderful coincidence?" Emily replied in the same tone. She hopped up and casually grabbed Naomi's hand, intertwining their fingers together as she led them away from the park and towards the bus stop.

"So," Naomi said. "You said you had a cure for stressed blondes who worry too much about school and friends and attackers."

"I do." Emily looked back over her shoulder and grinned proudly just as they reached the bus stop. "You and I, Naomi Campbell, are going on a date."

Naomi blinked. "We are?"

"We are."

"Right now?"

"Right now."

Very slowly a smile spread across Naomi's face, until it was matching the grin Emily was shooting at her.

_Oh yes. Definitely the right decision.

* * *

_

**A/n: Oh Emily Fitch. You make everything better. **

**I always wonder, when I write these chapters, did you catch any of the important bits? I know some of you do because you mention it in your REVIEWS (was that too obvious? I'm begging too obviously now.) Anyway I've learned my lesson about promising when the next chapter will be up. Suffice to say if its really long again you'll get another long chapter for putting up with me! **

**~FS**


	8. This Is My Desire

**A/n: HOLY SHIT I UPDATED NAIS. So. Um. Hi. It's been like six months. Oops? Actually this chapter is super super long but when it got to the point that it was 13 pages and still only 2/3 written I decided I needed to split them up. So here's chapter eight and then chapter nine will probably be up sometime tomorrow. The day after at the latest. You all can thank whyyesitscar for this one because I asked what she wanted updated and she said this and then I just had no excuse. Un-beta'd as always.**

**Disclaimer: Nope.**

* * *

"And the water is rising quick, and for years I was scared of it. We can't be sure when it will subside, so I won't leave your side. No I can't leave your side." Something Beautiful, Needtobreathe

* * *

The minute the door of the prison slammed shut behind her Naomi regretted every decision she'd made since that morning, starting with telling everyone who had offered to come with her that she needed to do this alone and moving on from that point, but most especially the decision to eat lunch.

She knew that the Bristol County Jail was supposed to be intimidating, and that that was sort of the point of it being a place to hold criminals and all. But the grey walls that lacked any decoration whatsoever and the flat white tiles (that were so scummy they looked about a few shades short of being grey themselves) created a crushing sensation right down to your bones. There was nothing to look at, nothing to distract you, no bright spots of color to relieve your mind. Just cold walls and cold floors and a vaguely cold sensation in the pit of your stomach that spread the farther down the hallway you traveled.

Naomi didn't like it one bit. And one thing was for damn sure: she would never do anything that would get her stuck behind these walls permanently if just being a visitor was this bad.

(This could also have something to do with who she was visiting.)

Her hands were clammy to the point of being uncomfortable and her heart kept beating strange patterns against the inside of her ribs, but beyond that she was calm. He had already done everything he possibly could to hurt her at this point. There was nothing to be lost by coming here, and quite a bit to gain. Like peace of mind.

The guard that had closed the door nodded at her and tried to look reassuring. Naomi attempted to drudge up a smile for him, and mostly managed it.

To take her mind off what could be awaiting her at the end of the hallway her thoughts flew back to yesterday.

* * *

_It was so early that they were the only two people at the bus stop. Well, them and the homeless man muttering to himself in the corner. It looked like he was wearing every single item of clothing he owned, and probably a few that weren't his. His voice was too low to hear what he was saying but he kept flicking a small lighter on and hovering his hands around it to keep them warm. _

_Naomi suddenly felt self-conscious bundled up in her warm jacket, with her feet encased in warm shoes, and her hand being held by her warm girlfriend and _– **whoa there cowboy,** _she thought_,** let's keep the word girlfriend in check, shall we? Emily is your friend, who yes is a girl, and who yes you may or may not enjoy kissing the breath out of. You're dating, at best. Let's not overstep ourselves here**. _She shook her head to clear the disconcerting thoughts that were mixing the words 'Emily' and 'girlfriend' together in quite nice and interesting ways, and her free hand went to her pocket without thinking about it. Then she had a better idea._

_She shook free of Emily and held up her hand with her fingers splayed. "Five minutes," she told the surprised redhead. "I'll be right back." _

_Naomi's stomach twisted up at the way Emily's head tilted to the side and the way her forehead scrunched adorably when she was confused, but she nodded and Naomi took off across the street at a jog. _

**Oh get a hold of yourself, Campbell. Not everything she does is adorable.** _Except, you know, everything Emily Fitch did was adorable. _**Yeah, I'm in trouble.**

_Not a whole lot was open at this time in the morning (hell the buses were barely running), but a department store just down the way was. Naomi darted in and grabbed what she wanted. She was in and out in two seconds, considering the fact that she was the only customer there, and was back in a flash. Emily was biting her lip and rocking back and forth on her heels, looking only mildly uncomfortable standing alone with a homeless man at a bus stop. Her whole face lit up when Naomi jogged back into view in a way that was impossible not to smile at, so of course Naomi did. _

_The homeless man jumped when Naomi shook out the new blanket she had bought and handed it to him. _

"_It's only department store brand," she told him as he stared at her with wide, uncomprehending eyes, "so it's probably a bit stiff and a lot scratchy. Sorry."_

_He reached out a shaky hand and touched the blanket for a moment, then his fingers tightened and he jerked it from her grasp. He seemed to relax when Naomi didn't fight him or try to take it back. He touched the fabric to his mouth and mumbled something incomprehensible before he pulled his new acquisition securely around his shoulders and said, in a surprisingly strong and clear voice, "Thank you, Angel." _

_Naomi started to object instantly. "I'm not a-" She stopped talking because it looked like a denial of her angel-hood would make him cry and ended the sentence instead with, "You're welcome." _

_She stood up and walked back over to Emily without another word. The other girl was watching her with soft eyes and she was looking at her in a way Naomi couldn't quite wrap her head around. _

"_What?" she snapped, abruptly self-conscious all over again. She crossed her arms over her chest defensively. "He was cold. It's getting colder. He should have a blanket." _

_Emily just shook her head and leaned forward to peck Naomi lightly on the lips. She pulled back before Naomi could react, though, and that just confused the blonde more. _

_She rubbed her forehead to try and clear her thoughts. Emily had somehow managed to scramble them again. "What was that for?" she demanded. _

_Emily shook her head again and the adoring way she was smiling made Naomi feel weak and warm all over. No one had ever looked at her the way Emily was looking at her now. _

"_You're just an exceptionally nice person, aren't you Naomi Campbell?" Emily said finally. _

"_I am not!" Naomi protested immediately, almost automatically, and threw in a scowl for good measure. "I'm a bitch." _

_Emily smirked, but Naomi was saved from whatever retort she was going to come back with by the arrival of the bus. _

_Or so she thought. Until Emily turned around halfway up the stairs of the double-decker (probably catching Naomi having a quick perve at her arse in the process) and said, her eyes twinkling mischievously, "Whatever you say…angel." She threw in a wink for good measure and shrieked when Naomi flat-out __**chased **__her the rest of the way up the steps. _

_There were only two other people up top: an old couple sitting smack in the middle, both with large and expensive cameras around their necks and disapproving frowns on their faces when two British teenagers burst upon their tourist day in a flurry of giggles. _

_If anything, the old couple's glares intensified when they sat in the back and continued to talk and giggle for most of the ride. Naomi didn't think anything of it, figuring they were just being curmudgeonly, until Emily leaned in close to whisper in her ear and the old man almost had an apoplectic fit. The whisper hadn't even been anything particularly suggestive and – all right – maybe Emily was sitting a bit closer than was strictly necessary, but it wasn't like they were full-on necking it on a public bus or something. Because Naomi realized in a flash that was their problem: they didn't like how she and Emily were behaving around each other. _

_Well, fuck them. Who the hell came to Bristol as a tourist anyway? _

"_Do you trust me?" she asked quietly, making sure to keep her voice down so the (still-glaring) old couple couldn't hear her. _

_Emily bit her lip to stifle another giggle. "What kind of question is that, Aladdin?" _

"_Dork," Naomi rolled her eyes. "Okay then. Just react." _

"_React to wha – " _

_The rest of Emily's question was muffled when Naomi grabbed her by the back of her neck and kissed her. To Emily's everlasting credit she reacted on the spot, sliding over so their bodies were pressed closer together and matching Naomi kiss for kiss. And for fucks sake it felt nice. This wasn't the quickly chaste kiss after their coffee date or the heated snog in the woods; this was just her and Emily and a warm, lazy kiss. _

_Emily Fitch's lips were addicting. They were soft and tasted wonderful, like some sort berry chapstick, she couldn't tell which but she definitely wouldn't mind spending some time figuring it out. She nipped playfully at Emily's bottom lip and smiled into the kiss when the other girl's hands flew up immediately to grab the collar of her jacket._

_Someone nearby cleared their throat loudly and obnoxiously. Naomi ignored them, her initial reason for kissing Emily forgotten in a haze of soft lips and warm hands. _

"_Excuse me. __**Excuse me**__." _

_Naomi pulled away from their current liplock reluctantly and leveled a glare at the older man. "Yes?" she asked bitingly. "Can I help you with something?" _

_The old man looked to be on the verge of a stroke. If it was possible to light someone on fire with their eyes then the glare that his wife was throwing at them would have roasted the girls twice over. _

"_I have nothing to say to you young ladies," the older man said stiffly. "Nothing at all. Except – "_

"_Seems you're saying something right now," Emily said. _

_He ignored the redhead completely and Emily's hands were suddenly on Naomi's shoulders and pushing down to keep the blonde girl from standing up and breaking his stupid camera over his stupid head. _

" – _except that you are disgraceful young women," he continued on, unaware of his near-death experience with a volatile Naomi, "and this was a quiet trip until you came along." _

"_Yeah?" Naomi asked, her voice dripping with so much sarcasm you could practically see the words hanging in the air, "Go fuck yourselves. Tossers." _

_The older woman sniffed and stood up, straightening her clothes with a snotty: "Well I say!" before marching down the steps. Her husband followed in a hen-pecked manner. _

_Naomi vindictively hoped that the bus stopped suddenly and they went flying but unfortunately nothing like that happened. _

"_So," Emily said slowly after they had left. _

"_Yeah," Naomi brought a hand up and rubbed at the back of her neck. She was still scowling at the steps. "Sorry about that. I know we were supposed keep it slow but I just really felt like…"_

"_Shoving it in his face?" Emily finished with a smirk. _

_Naomi ducked her head to hide her embarrassed blush. Now that Emily had put it like that the flat-out taunting did seem a bit childish. "Maybe a little," she admitted quietly. "Like I said, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have grabbed you like that. I'm such a tit." _

_She shut up when Emily shifted a little closer and tucked herself underneath her arm. "What the hell are you apologizing for?" Emily asked. "I just had the best snog of my life on top of a public bus in Bristol. I was sort of hoping it would happen again actually." _

_The redhead just lifted her eyebrows invitingly and Naomi couldn't stop her grin as she leaned forward to oblige. After all, they had only put a referendum on snogging amidst foliage. _

_Snogging on top of buses was a completely different scenario. Obviously. _

* * *

The waiting room was, if anything, even worse. It vaguely resembled the waiting room of a doctor's office, if the doctor was some kind of cruel sadistic asshole who enjoyed psychologically messing with people's minds. There were only two doors into the waiting room: the one she had come in through, and the one that led to the actual visiting area. The couch was too low and uncomfortable to sit on and the paintings on the walls looked more like something Salvador Dali would think up in a crack dream. Disturbing did not begin to cover it.

Just as she found herself wondering if the paintings were purchased or made by some of the inmates the door opposite the one she had come in by swung open. Naomi's heart jumped with adrenaline and then settled when she realized it was just a guard.

If Hagrid from the Harry Potter series had an older and slightly more refined brother than this man would be it, she thought. He was absolutely massive; his shoulders barely fit through the door and his hands looked like they would crush her if she tried to give him a handshake. He had a full head of black hair turning grey and a great big beard and very kind eyes. His voice, when he talked, sounded like thunder personified.

"Well this makes me sick," was his greeting.

Naomi warred between being offended and being intimidated. Offense won…barely.

"Excuse me?" she asked sharply.

He seemed to realize his mistake. "Oh, didn't mean you sweetheart," he said. "Meant your age."

And now Naomi was just plain confused. "What does my age have to do with anything?"

"You're about the same age as my daughters is what," he rumbled. He pushed gently past her (which, with his size, was sort of like being passed by a freight train) and went over to the other door. He stuck his head out into the corridor Naomi had just come from. Naomi heard him exchange a few words with someone out there about if he absolutely _had _to and when he turned back around his frown reminded her of a storm cloud. Naomi instantly nicknamed him Guard Zeus since she couldn't seem to find a nametag anywhere.

She went to walk over to the door she hadn't been through yet and was stopped when Guard Zeus grabbed her shoulder and spun her back around. He sat her on the uncomfortable couch and there was really no way that she could fight him. The man was huge.

"Now listen," he said seriously. Naomi tried not to find it amusing that he had to bend over a little to make eye contact with her. The nerves must have seriously been messing with her brain. "You agreed and so I can't do anything about letting you go in and talk to him."

She opened her mouth to argue and his eyes narrowed at her.

"No, I said you listen. That man is rotten. Through and through completely rotten." Naomi tried to look in another direction and he very gently pulled her eyes back to his. "There's a way about him. He's too sneaky and too clever by half. And he'll say things. Things that'll get under your skin and into your head. He's evil, just pure and simple, and this is coming from a man who tries very hard to think that no living creature is evil. Do you understand?"

Naomi nodded.

"Good. Now I can't stop you from going in there but there's no amount of time you've gotta _stay _in there and I'm gonna be standing right in the corner. The minute – and I mean the goddamn minute that you start to feel uncomfortable you look to me okay? And you'll come straight out. Do we have a deal?"

A little bit of the ice in the bottom of her stomach thawed away. Knowing this great mountain of a man was keeping an eye on her was very comforting. It almost made up for not being able to have Ellie with her. She nodded again.

"Thank you," she said quietly, with as much sincerity as she could put into it.

He patted the top of her head and helped her to her feet. "Into the fray with you then, little 'un," he said, and ushered her through the door.

* * *

"_No. Absolutely not." Naomi stopped short and it made Emily, her hand still linked with Naomi's, stop as well. _

_"Yes, absolutely yes," Emily countered. She rolled her eyes when Naomi simply dug in her heels. "Oh come on, Naomi. Don't be a pussy."_

_Naomi let the 'you are what you eat' joke fly by without comment. Instead she let go of Emily's hand and crossed her arms firmly. She was taller and probably more stubborn than Emily. The little redhead wouldn't win this fight._

_Emily shook her head like she just couldn't believe that Naomi was being __**this **__childish and hooked their arms together instead, using the added leverage to tug Naomi forward. It was such a surprising move that it worked and effectively dislodged Naomi from her spot. She yelped a little bit in affronted indignation but she also didn't pull away again, which sort of went to show that no matter how much she put up a badass front she was more than willing to follow Emily around like a little blonde puppy. _

_Really though, all of this was kind of Naomi's own fault. Her and her traitorous brain. When a whole new group of people had come on the bus and sat up top the redhead had proceeded to sit very close. And the problem that Naomi had with Emily is that Naomi could be thinking regular coherent thoughts and then all Emily had to do was smile or laugh (or breathe) and the only thing Naomi's brain could effectively come up with was the sound 'wuh'. _

_So when Emily sat next to her on the bus she was very warm and very comfortable and she smelled really nice. She sat with Naomi's hand in her lap, gently moving and playing with the blonde's fingers while they talked, and Naomi's head was doing its regular tailspin. Partly because that was its normal state around Emily and partly because she couldn't really concentrate with the feeling of Emily's tongue in her mouth still so fresh in her mind. _

_Honestly Naomi didn't have a great amount of self-control around Emily in the first place so it shouldn't come as a big surprise that her mouth started speaking long before the words she was saying actually crossed her brain. Emily had been recounting how when she and her siblings were little and growing up in London their parents would take them to this faire set up in one of the many parks every year for their little brother's birthday. Katie had thrown a hissy fit whenever Emily had won more prizes than her and so Emily had made a point to do just that at every opportunity. And Naomi, distracted by the sound of Emily's voice and the feeling of Emily's fingers running up and down her hand and the warmth of Emily pressed so close to her side, had nonchalantly mentioned that she'd never even been to a faire before. _

_Well, Emily was having none of __**that**__._

_"Seriously Ems, how did you even know this place was here?" Naomi asked. Whined, really, but that was beside the point._

_Emily's face broke into a delighted smile at the nickname and Naomi tried not to let herself get distracted by the heart-meltyness of it. "A large, loud group of tents and rides is sort of hard to miss," Emily said patiently and maybe a little patronizingly._

_"Oh ha-ha," Naomi snapped. "Make the blonde joke. Go ahead, I dare you."_

"_I was in no way going to make a blonde joke," Emily assured her, but the way her lips twitched wider was a dead giveaway. _

_**Great**__. Now Naomi was thinking of Emily's lips. That wasn't distracting __**at all**__. Honestly she was never going to win an argument with this girl if every time she tried to make a point she wound up fighting the urge to simply kiss that smirk off of her face instead. _

"_Convincing," Naomi sniped dryly. Emily's responding peal of laughter was so infectious that Naomi felt a smile start to sneak onto her face all on its own. She bumped her shoulder into Emily's. "You're such a bad liar." _

_Emily's laughter died down and she looked down at their joined hands intently. That weirdly sad little half-smile that Naomi absolutely __**hated**__ made a reappearance. "I hope not." _

_Naomi's stomach dropped in premonition. She pulled them to a stop and kept them there this time even when Emily tried to link arms and move them forward again. "What was that?" she demanded. _

"_It's nothing." Emily's response was a little too quick and her bright smile a little too forced to be completely reassuring. "Don't worry about it." _

"_Emily I'm blonde but I'm not stupid," Naomi snapped. _

"_No, you're not," Emily agreed sadly. She started to pull them forward again and this time Naomi complied. "It's just…" Naomi squeezed her hand when she trailed off and Emily squeezed back immediately. The action felt almost instinctive. "I'm sort of lying to be here. So hopefully I'm not as bad a liar as you seem to think." _

_Naomi frowned. Those two sentences raised about a million and a half questions between them. She went with the easiest first. "Lying to who?" _

"_My boss." This time the instant reply held a distinct ring of truth. Emily glanced sideways at her and her face was very reminiscent of a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "With all the legal shit flying around we're technically not supposed to be associating with you." _

"_We – who?" _

"_We – everybody at the club." _

_They were just behind the farthest building in the hodgepodge of structures that made up the faire. It seemed as good a private place as they were going to get for the conversation Naomi knew was going to happen next. _

"_Oh." She shook her hand and arm free from Emily entirely. She couldn't __**think**__ with her around. When Emily looked startled at the sudden change in her demeanour, Naomi struggled to keep her face impassive. "Well, then – "_

_Something must have clicked in Emily's brain. Her eyes flashed with a mixture of anger, annoyance, and something else Naomi couldn't quite work out. "Don't do that," she snapped. In a weird counterpoint to the anger in her voice her hand reached out to try to reclaim Naomi's. _

_Naomi crossed her arms to avoid the urge to give in, although it made her chest ache. "You don't do that," she snapped back. "You should have told me." _

"_Because you reacted so well when I did just then," Emily rolled her eyes and stepped closer. "Naomi stop being ridiculous." _

"_You're risking your job for me!" Naomi hissed intensely. She didn't want to yell, was trying desperately not to yell because she didn't want to acknowledge she was having a fight with Emily right then. She responded to Emily's advance by moving backward. She couldn't let the redhead get too close or the physical proximity would mess with her head again. Emily had a way of doing that to her. _

"_It's my job to risk!" Emily hissed back just as intensely. She took another step forward and Naomi moved another step back. Any further and she'd hit the wall. _

_Okay__, now was definitely not the time for the horny little devil that lived inside her mind to make a reappearance but reappear he did, and with a vengeance. At that moment he was hanging off her shoulder like a little monkey and pointing out how supremely attractive Emily was when she was mad; with her face flushed and her eyes flashing and her chest heaving as she took in deep breaths to try and calm herself down. _

_**Thud**__. _

_Emily had kept advancing and Naomi had kept retreating and now there was the dilemma that Naomi was currently facing. That dilemma being that her back had just hit the wall of the cubby, and Emily was standing so close she could feel the body heat radiating off the redhead, and her brain was scrambling desperately to find reasons to stick to their 'going slow' plan that they'd decided on less than an hour ago and was coming up with nothing. _

"_Emily–" she just barely managed to get the word out without her voice shaking. Somehow the argument had fallen to the wayside. But that might have something to do with how very close the redhead was standing to her at that exact moment in time. _

_The smirk that Emily had had on in the meadow that morning had been adorable and smug and Naomi had never thought she'd label a smirk __**cute**__ before but, like with everything else Emily had done since she's met the girl, she somehow pulled it off. The smirk she had on now was dangerous and more than a little sexy. _

_Emily leaned forward and placed one hand on each side of Naomi's shoulders, effectively trapping the blonde between her arms. "Problem, Naoms?" she asked a shade too innocently. She cocked her head to the side and a rogue piece of bright red hair fell across her face. "You're looking a little flushed." _

**I'm on fire, I must be**_**.**__ Not surprising considering how hot her blood felt rushing through her veins. At what point had her heart been replaced with a racehorse and if it could stop beating so fast that would be really awesome. _

"_I'm fine," Naomi said confidently. At least it was meant to come out confidently, but at the exact moment she went to speak Emily had lowered her hands from the wall and traced them down Naomi's sides before stopping at her hips. Emily's fingers lying on the strip of skin between her jeans and her shirt felt like a brand and the word __**'fine' **__came out way more breathy and weak than she wanted it to._

_Emily's smirk widened and her thumbs started to trace circles on Naomi's hipbones. "You sure?" _

**Emily Fitch you are the goddamn devil**_**,**__ she thought desperately. _

"_Positive," she answered, and if the last syllable squeaked just the teensiest bit, well, at least she got the word out. Her hands shot down and caught Emily's wrists to still her movements. Not because she ever, ever wanted Emily to stop doing that but because if the redhead __**didn't**__ stop there was a good chance the two of them would never actually make it into the faire or even to a third date before Naomi just threw her up against a wall and had her way with her and she couldn't do that because this was a public place and there were children around and __**oh god**__. "We should go on, don't you think?" _

_As if to punctuate that someone laughed loudly nearby and a group of kids a little younger than them passed through the thoroughfare. None of them seemed to take notice of the two girls practically flush against the wall and for that she was eternally grateful. _

_Emily's smile turned into something warmer and more affectionate and she nodded, giving Naomi's hips a last caress before she let go completely. Naomi bit her lip to stop from automatically protesting the loss of contact. She was placated when Emily grabbed her hand again instead and started to lead them into the faire – twenty minutes later than they had started out. _

**Fucking hell!**_ Naomi frowned. She wasn't quite sure when it had happened but Emily had somehow (through her secret ninja powers of sexy adorableness maybe) completely deflected the fight. Naomi couldn't say she wasn't glad. She didn't feel like fighting with Emily right now (or ever if she had a choice in the matter). _**Touché, ****Fitch**_. She thought wonderingly. She'd never seen anyone, not even Effy, stop a fight so skilfully in its tracks. Emily had a scary amount of control over her when she wanted. _

_As if she'd heard that thought Emily stopped and turned around, her sexy smirk firmly in place and stronger than ever. Naomi had to lock her knees in place to give herself some sense of stability when Emily leaned up and whispered in her ear. The warm breath blowing past her ear and the feel of Emily's body leaning against hers was enough to start up the bonfire in her stomach that had calmed down once they'd started walking again. _

"_You should be angry and protective more often," Emily said in a low voice that actually threatened to give Naomi heart palpitations. "It's kind of ridiculously hot." _

_Then she winked and walked immediately over towards the ticket booth, leaving Naomi standing there and seriously debating whether running away right at this moment would be the smarter option. _

**Oh who are you trying to kid**_,__ the little voice of her conscience piped up in the back of her mind (sounding scarily like Effy), _**that girl has you wrapped around her little finger and you are loving every second of it. **

_Completely true, but (and here Naomi shook her head at herself) neither of them seemed to be able to comprehend the phrase 'taking it slow'._

* * *

The visiting room was a banquet hall full of tables with chairs on either side of them. Both the tables and the chairs were bolted to the ground. Although there were a least fifty tables there every single one of them was empty, except for the one at the very back left.

Leeds was bent over a pad of paper with a pen when she walked up to him. She could clearly see he was cuffed to the chair by his ankle and his other wrist but she hovered across the table without sitting down anyway. He looked up when he heard her footsteps and smiled. "Hello beautiful. Nice day out?"

"You wouldn't know," she sniped.

He threw his head back and cackled. His eyes were dangerously amused when he looked at her again. "No I wouldn't, would I? Got me in solitary confinement. Apparently they don't like my," he paused unnecessarily and wiggled his eyebrows, "attitude."

"Well I don't like your anything, so excuse me if I can't help but agree with them."

He cackled again and rattled his chained wrist. "What's with the standing treatment, beautiful? They got me cuffed tighter than a mad dog. Afraid I'll bite?"

Naomi sat down just to prove to him she wasn't afraid of anything. It only occurred to her after she'd done it that that was probably the response he'd wanted. "I just want to know one thing," she said stiffly.

"Ask away," he waved his free arm around, "I've got all the time in the world."

She clutched at the leg of her jeans. His next answer would be all she wanted to know and then she'd be gone. Back outside where the sun was warm and away from this place where even the air felt heavy and constricting. She took a deep breath. "Why me?"

Leeds leaned forward like he was going to reveal a very big secret. He crooked one finger to beckon her and she moved just marginally closer. Not close enough that he'd be able to touch her, though. His smile was slow and somehow fear-inducing. "Orders," he said quietly, like he'd given her the Holy Grail. And then he leaned back and laughed at the look on her face.

Naomi scowled. _What the fuck kind of answer is that? _she thought angrily. Her mouth twisted up in a grimace. "Whose orders?" she demanded.

He shrugged. "Someone who doesn't like you."

"Why?"

Another shrug. "Don't care."

Naomi slammed her hands down on the table in front of them. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Guard Zeus take a step towards them and put his hand to his belt. "Quit fucking around," she hissed. "What did I do?"

"You haven't done anything," he said, and if she thought his smile was fear-inducing before it was nothing compared to the chill that ran down her spine now, "yet."

* * *

**A/n: Right, so there's the first bit. Like I said the next one should follow very shortly, although if it's not up until Monday that's because I'm spending the weekend in Virginia with my favorite person in the world. **

**Cheers! ~FS**


	9. Someone You Think You Know

**A/n: Dear self: in what way does this look like Monday? Sincerely, me. **

**So, um...sorry this is late. Un-beta'd as always so all mistakes are mine. OH LOOK A DISTRACTION. **

**Disclaimer: Nada. **

* * *

"Strange things are happenin' to me. Strange things. Strange things are happenin' to me. Ain't no doubt about it." Strange Things, Randy Newman

* * *

_It turned out to be more of a faire for littler kids then it was for adults, as least as far as the rides went, but it was still one of best days of Naomi's entire life. She didn't know what it was about Emily that helped her to completely relax and let go around her, but whatever it was Naomi found herself hoping it never went away. _

_They wound up playing a lot of the games instead. Emily blushed absolutely crimson when Naomi won a medium-sized teddy bear at one of the ring-toss games and handed it to the redhead with a flourishing bow. "For you," she said with a wink. _

_Emily grabbed it and tried to look nonchalant, she even rolled her eyes, but as they moved on to the next game Naomi saw motion out of the corner of her eye. Emily brought the bear up to her chest and gave it a quick cuddle when she thought Naomi wasn't looking, nuzzling the top of its head a little bit. Naomi's heart stuttered at the cute. _

_Two games later Naomi blushed when Emily proudly handed over a stuffed elephant with a triumphant grin. Emily said his name was Hugo and he rode around in Naomi's bag for the rest of the day. _

_Partway through the day Naomi was walking between two tents trying to find Emily, who had disappeared to go get sweets while Naomi got them drinks. _

_A few steps into the little alley and her ears started ringing. She brought one hand up to rub at her right ear and frowned. The noise from the faire was weirdly muted and as much as she strained herself she couldn't seem to hear it. Panic started to creep up her chest. _

_There was movement behind one of the tents and then something big and black crashed through the fabric and darted into the other. Naomi was so startled she nearly bit through her lip trying to keep her scream in check and she jumped backwards. She tripped over one of the tent's ropes and fell hard on her back, knocking most of the air out of her lungs and sending the cans of soda in her hands rolling away. Naomi watched as they rolled and bumped into a pair of familiar Converses. _

"_Whoa!" Emily rushed forward and knelt down next to her, switching their candy floss to one hand so the other could run down her side checking for injuries (and leaving goosebumps in its wake). "Are you all right?" _

"_Fine," Naomi wheezed and coughed. She gratefully accepted Emily's hand up and once she was on her feet air flowed through her lungs with more ease. _

"_What was that?" Emily asked as she walked over and scooped up the soda cans. She studied them for a second and shook her head. "Also, we might not want to open these for a while." _

"_Probably not," Naomi agreed. She finally took in a full deep breath and let it out again. _

"_So what happened?" Emily cradled their sweets and their soda in one arm and kept the other hand on Naomi's shoulder. _

_Naomi rubbed the side of her head in embarrassment. Now that Emily was here and she was surrounded by people again her overreaction was kind of embarrassing. "I thought I saw something," she mumbled. "An animal or something." _

_Emily studied her for a second and then raised her eyebrow. "Was it a white rabbit?" she asked. _

_It took Naomi a second to get the joke. "Funny," she rolled her eyes. _

_Emily's smirk grew wider. "If you're Alice what does that make me?" _

"_Annoying?" Naomi suggested. _

_Emily threw back her head and laughed and Naomi's stomach fluttered at the sight. _

_Naomi couldn't stop herself from smiling just a little bit. She reached down and brushed the dirt off her jeans. "If I'm Alice then that makes you the Red Queen." _

"_Was that a crack at my hair?" Emily accused. _

_In a sudden rush of bravery, and because Emily's arms were full of things and she couldn't possibly stop her, Naomi reached over and tugged gently on a bit of Emily's hair that had fallen in front of her face. "It is rather bright," she said and tucked it behind Emily's ear. _

"_I don't know," Emily leaned her cheek briefly against Naomi's hand and scrunched up her face. "'Off with their heads' isn't exactly my style. I think I'd be the Mad Hatter. Doesn't he get the girl anyway?" _

"_Only in the Johnny Depp version." _

_Laughing and bantering, her momentary panic behind the tent completely forgotten, they went back to playing games. _

_That day Naomi learned that Emily had a wicked competitive streak. It came out the most when they were playing the water pistol racing game, the one where everyone shoots a stream of water at a target that propels their little racer forward. It was just the two of them and Emily had won the last two. _

"_Don't cheat this time," Naomi taunted as they lined up to shoot again. _

"_I __**do not**__ cheat!" Emily pressed a hand to her chest and faked offense. "Please don't be jealous because I am obviously the superior shot, Naoms." _

_It was the second time that day that Emily had thrown that nickname out and it put a grin on Naomi's face that threatened to split her head in two. They both brought their water pistols up at the ready and kicked at each other gently before it started. Naomi started shooting as soon as the buzzer went off but after a few seconds it was obvious Emily was winning. _

_Naomi smirked evilly and bumped her hips lightly into Emily's. _

"_Hey! Now who's the dirty cheater?" Emily accused. _

_Naomi just bumped her hips into Emily again, this time hard enough to knock off Emily's aim. When her little horse reached the end of the track first she threw her arms up into the air in victory. _

_For half a second Naomi thought Emily was actually mad but then she saw the evil grin that was spreading across the redhead's face and started to get nervous. _

"_You know, Naomi," she said. "That was pretty aggressive. Maybe you should cool off." And then she hefted her water pistol and proceeded to shoot the front of Naomi's shirt._

_Naomi shrieked and jumped away and Emily was laughing so hard that the annoyed-looking booth worker was able to take the water pistol out of her hand without a fight. _

"_You little bitch!" Naomi yelled as she swiped at the front of her shirt. _

"_Awww, don't be mad Naoms. I'm sorry." Emily pouted and Naomi's heart melted. _

**Damnit Emily Fitch,**_ Naomi cursed at herself. _**Stop being so cute when I'm trying to be mad at you. It's not fair.**

"_Come on," Emily grabbed her hand and started leading her towards the line of shops across the street from the faire. "We'll go and see if any of those has customer toilets with the little hand dryers. I really am sorry." _

_Naomi probably would have believed her if she wasn't giggling the whole time they were walking. She just rolled her eyes and followed and accepted the fact that staying mad at Emily was a waste of time. Eventually they found a little clothes shop that looked promising and Emily led the way in. _

"_Excuse me?" she asked one of the passing employees. The woman stopped and stared at Emily like she was a particularly difficult puzzle she was trying to solve. "Do you have a toilet we can use? My friend here got all wet." _

_Naomi swallowed heavily and concentrated on the feeling of the cold water soaking through her shirt to keep a blush from creeping up her neck. _

**Emily you bitch. **

"_Back of the store to the left," the woman said distractedly. "Don't I know you from somewhere?" _

"_I don't think so," Emily replied. "Maybe you've been to the club I work at." _

_The woman shrugged and turned back to the clothes rack like the answer no longer mattered, and Naomi and Emily made their way to the back of the shop. Sure enough the toilet had several stalls, a counter with a bunch of sinks, and most importantly one of those little hand dryers. _

_Naomi toyed with the bottom of her shirt as Emily hopped up onto the counter, still snickering away for all she was worth, and started swinging her legs back and forth like a little kid._

_"Yes it's exceptionally funny," Naomi frowned down at her shirt. "And when I get hypothermia I'm sure it'll be downright hysterical." _

_"It's not even close to being cold enough for that," Emily said through her random bubbles of laughter. "I think your odds of survival are pretty high. We could always call your friend JJ for the exact numbers though."_

_Naomi attempted to contort her body in such a way that she could get the wet part of her shirt underneath the air dryer. It probably wasn't terribly attractive and it didn't work anyway. Emily burst into another fit of giggles when she almost fell over trying to bend enough to manage it. _

_"He'll probably need to know all the specifics," she said absently as she glanced back and forth between her wet shirt and the air dryer and tried to think of a way to get them together. "Like exact temperature and purity of the water and the type of shirt, you know, et cetera. How d'you know about JJ's love affair with numbers anyway?"_

_She huffed in aggravation when her brain still refused to supply a good solution and missed the way Emily's eyes darted away for a moment. _

_"You told me, remember?" she asked._

_Naomi shrugged. She must have. There was no other way that Emily could have - ah HA! A plan surged up into her mind the way stuff like that always does. You stop thinking about something for a moment and almost immediately the answer comes to you. Plus this had the added bonus of payback on Emily for the whole water incident in the first place. _

_She shrugged out of her jacket and walked over to the door of the bathroom, which locked with a satisfying click. _

_"What are you doing?" Emily asked suspiciously, an edge of nerves creeping into her voice. _

_"I don't want anyone to walk in while I'm trying to dry my shirt," Naomi answered as vaguely and innocently as she possibly could. _

_"Awwww, you figured out a way to dry it? I was enjoying the sho-" Emily's sentence cut off with a strange little strangled whimpering noise when Naomi answered her first question by very quickly and deliberately peeling off her wet shirt._

_Naomi didn't look at Emily on purpose, instead faking nonchalance as she went over to the dryer and proceeded to hold her shirt under it easily. Eventually she got a little worried from the complete lack of response from Emily and chanced a look over her shoulder. The redhead was still on the counter but her legs had stopped swinging. Her eyes were locked on the wall to her right like if she stopped looking at a specific tile over there the world would end immediately._

_As Naomi watched a muscle in her neck twitched, as if Emily's body was saying 'Please? Just one teeny tiny peek?'. She could see her lips moving quietly. _

_"Emily," she said, and watched as the muscle twitched again. "What are you doing?" _

_"Counting backwards from 150,000," Emily answered._

_"Emily," Naomi said again, this time lower._

_"Yes?" Emily's voice squeaked on the word. She cleared her throat and tried again, still staring at the wall. "Yes?" _

_Naomi grinned. It was nice to know that she could do the same thing to Emily that Emily could do to her. She walked over and, feeling exceptionally brave, put a hand on Emily's leg. _

_"You can look." _

_"No I can't," Emily shook her head vigorously as a blush that rivaled the color of her hair started to spread across her face. _

_"Well my diabolical plan doesn't work if you don't look," Naomi teased. _

_"I'm fine right here," Emily insisted. In fact it looked like she was trying to lean back to put more distance between them. "Isn't your shirt dry?"_

_Naomi looked over very quickly. It actually did look pretty dry by now but she was having way too much fun to admit that. _

_"It could use another couple of minutes," she lied. _

_The muscle in Emily's neck twitched again and this time Naomi leaned forward and very cutely soothed it with a kiss. Emily jumped violently the moment Naomi's lips touched her skin, as if she had been trying so desperately to ignore the half-naked blonde that she had momentarily forgotten about Naomi's proximity altogether._

"_Naomi," Emily groaned. _

_Naomi smiled and she felt Emily shiver as her lips brushed the redhead's neck again. "Problem?" she asked. _

_Instead of answering Emily turned her head and pressed her lips hungrily against Naomi's. They were right back to being unable to keep their hands off each other, right back to snogging in the middle of the woods again, and as much as Naomi knew it was probably too fast she wouldn't have stopped if the world was crashing down. Naomi saw fireworks every time Emily touched her and she was just going to stop questioning it because it felt way too fucking good to possibly be bad. _

_She tangled her hands in Emily's hair and attacked her mouth with so much heat that Emily gasped and she took that opportunity to slip her tongue into Emily's mouth. Emily's gasp turned into a moan and she grabbed Naomi's hips and dragged her closer, sucking on her tongue in a way that made Naomi lightheaded. She wanted Emily so badly that her ears were filled with a dull roaring noise. Emily hooked her legs around Naomi's waist and Naomi let go of her hair with one hand so she could push herself higher up onto the counter. Emily's hands were all over her back, running her fingernails over her spine, caressing the bare skin of her shoulders, and they left a trail of fire in their wake. _

_Naomi pulled away from Emily's mouth so she could place open-mouthed kisses along her neck and she knew the moment she hit the right spot because Emily's hands shot up to the back of her head and held her there. _

"_Shit," Emily hissed, and Naomi could feel the vibrations of the word with her lips. _

_Someone knocked on the door of the toilet and Naomi flew back like she'd been burned. Emily was gripping the counter so tightly her knuckles were turning white and they both stared intently at each other as they tried to catch their breath. _

_Eventually that person knocked again and Emily recovered her wits enough to shout out, "Just a moment!" _

_Naomi shook her head like a dog to clear her thoughts and quickly walked over and put her t-shirt back on. She tried desperately to zip up her jacket but her hands were shaking too badly to get it to catch. Suddenly Emily's hands were over hers and she zipped it up for her and fussed over the collar, smoothing it and straightening it nervously. _

_She lifted herself on her tiptoes and slowly kissed Naomi again, and this time it had the opposite effect. Instead of igniting a fire in her veins it made her heart beat normally again. Her hands stopped shaking as they rested lightly on Emily's waist and Emily's hands were rubbing small comforting circles on the back of her neck. _

_Emily pulled away and smiled. "Let's go for a walk?" she suggested._

* * *

Naomi leaned away again and took a few deep breaths to calm herself. The guard had been right; Leeds had a way of saying exactly the right thing to set you off. He was playing her but he could only continue doing so if she let him.

She leaned back and copied his position. "So enlighten me," she said, and was proud of how steady her voice came out, "how can I be punished for something I haven't done yet? I might now do it at all."

Leeds cackled again and twirled his pen between his fingers. "Oh, you will," he assured her. "You won't be able to stop yourself. Moth to flame, lovely. Moth to flame."

"Do you take lessons in vague or does it just come naturally?" she snarked.

"Au naturel sweetheart," he winked and Naomi felt another shudder run down her spine. The guy oozed creep from every pore.

"If you're not even going to give a straight answer then I think we're done here," Naomi said coldly. She moved to get up and stopped when Leeds started spinning the pen around in his hands.

"Anything strange been happening to you, lovely?" he asked almost too casually. "Things you can't quite explain?"

"I wasn't aware this was the X-Files," Naomi snapped, but even she knew that wasn't a real answer. It couldn't have been her imagination that the lights in the room dimmed. The one directly above their heads flickered sporadically. Naomi had the fleeting thought that the county really needed to invest more money in their light fixtures.

"Seems a little convenient doesn't it?" Leeds continued on like she hadn't said anything. "Guy you've never talked to before asks you out on a date? Then of course there's that girl you've never talked to before who watched you for the rest of the night. She even managed to bump into you the second time around. Kids these days. Precious."

Naomi frowned as she tried to recall what he could possibly be talking about. She _had _talked to that boy before he asked her out. She thought. Maybe. She'd been flattered in any case. And what girl? Wait, there was that one girl. At the club the night she met Emily. That girl from her politics class. Sarah? Sophie? Sophia! But she hadn't been looking at her the whole night, not that she could recall.

_Had she? _

A thought occurred to her. "How do you know about any of that? You were already in jail that night."

He ripped bits of paper off of his pad and started flicking them at her. "And that nurse in your room after you, you know," he waved a hand around his head, "bumped your little noggin. She couldn't even check your vitals right. What exactly _was _she doing in your room?"

Naomi's chair made a scraping noise as she pushed it back. "I know what you're doing," she said. Her hands gripped the table to conceal how hard they were shaking. "I've already been told you mess with people's heads."

"Oh darling," he flashed her a smile that should have been charming and wasn't, "you have no idea."

* * *

_The sun was already starting to set as they skipped riding a bus and walked back to Naomi's house instead. They both consciously tried to keep distance between them but in the end they wound up drifting towards each other anyway. _

"_So we obviously have issues with personal space," Emily said suddenly. _

_Naomi laughed because it was so true there was no other reaction she could have but to laugh. "What are you doing to me, Emily Fitch?" she asked. _

_Emily looked over at her in confusion. "What do you mean?" she prodded. _

"_I don't have any self-control around you," Naomi said pathetically. She looked at Emily with nothing but hopeless pleading on her face, just sincerely wanting to know how it was possible for her to make her feel all of these things at once and so strongly. "How do you do it?" _

_Emily pulled her around and gave her one of those calm kisses again. Naomi sighed when they broke apart. _

"_I don't know," the redhead said quietly, her hands still wrapped around the back of Naomi's neck, "but you do it to me too. So it can't possibly be bad. But since we both seem to be having trouble with the whole 'going slow thing'," she stopped here and they both blushed as their moment in the toilets surged to the front of their minds, "why don't we just, I don't know, let it develop as it goes?" _

"_All right," Naomi agreed quickly. She leaned down and kissed Emily again and this time it was Emily who sighed when it was over. They started walking again, their hands swinging between them. Naomi glanced at the ground and smiled. "You're one of those people who can do anything you put your mind to, aren't you?" she asked. "I bet you can even make my nightmares go away." _

_Naomi closed her mouth quickly but it was already too late to take it back. Fucking word vomit. Just another example of her complete inability to control herself around Emily. _

_Emily was frowning. "What nightmares?" she asked. _

"_It's nothing," Naomi shrugged and tried to play it off. _

"_It's not nothing," Emily stopped again and tugged on Naomi's hand until the blonde reluctantly faced her. "Naomi." _

_Naomi wanted to lie, she really truly did. She wanted to repeat that it was nothing and act nonchalant until Emily let it go. But she couldn't. For some inexplicable reason she couldn't look at Emily when the redhead was watching her with so much concern and affection written all over her face and tell her it was nothing. It was difficult, though. _

"_Okay," she sighed. She tugged on Emily's hand and they started walking again. "I've been having these really weird nightmares lately." _

"_Weird how?" Emily prompted. _

_Naomi's throat tightened. "Everything is dark," she whispered. "And something is chasing me. It's a huge bird, I think. And it's angry. I don't know what I did or why but it's so very angry at me and there's no way to escape it." _

_Emily let go of her hand in order to wrap her arm completely around Naomi's waist. She tucked her hand into Naomi's pocket and pulled her closer so they were walking practically attached at the hip. She glanced over at Emily out of the corner of her eye. Emily was watching the ground at their feet, her face dark and troubled. _

"_What's the matter?" Naomi asked. _

_Emily looked at her and smiled sadly. "I'm just sorry that you're having these nightmares and I can't do anything about them," she said. _

_Telling Emily about them, feeling her concern and her empathy, it was like a weight had been lifted off her chest. Naomi smiled and wiggled her arm out from between them and wrapped it around Emily's shoulders. "I don't think I'll let them bother me anymore," she said, and Emily's frown slowly lifted._

"_Well if you say so," Emily smiled and bumped their hips together gently. _

_By this time they were just outside of Naomi's house. They slowed their steps and finally stopped just in front of her walk. Naomi untangled herself from Emily and stood a little bit away from her. "Thank you," she said sincerely. "I really needed today and you gave it to me. So, thank you." She saw the curtain of the front window twitch. "And don't look now but we're being spied on." _

_Emily paled dramatically. Then she followed Naomi's eyes towards the curtains and her face broke out into an amused smile. _

"_Your mum?" she whispered conspiratorially. _

"_And probably Cook and Effy," Naomi admitted with a grimace. "Would you like to come inside?" _

_Emily shook her head and looked genuinely sorry to say no. "I can't," she said. "I've got to get back. I had to switch out of a day shift which means I'm covering the bar tonight." _

"_Is that even legal?" Naomi frowned. _

_Emily shrugged. "Probably not, but no one seems to worry about it." _

_Naomi could clearly see her mother waving in the window now and she groaned. "Please ignore the mad woman behind the curtain." _

"_I think she's nice," Emily smiled and waved back._

"_Don't. You're encouraging her." _

_Abruptly Emily was looking down at the ground and drawing pictures on the pavement with the toe of her shoe. "I really did have a great day, Naomi," she said and Naomi couldn't stop the smile that burst onto her face. _**Emily Fitch, be cuter.**

"_So did I," she replied. _

_They'd been flirting and laughing and kissing all day. Since when did they act like award thirteen-year-olds on their first date? She lifted Emily's chin with one finger and kissed her, smiling into it when Emily's hands came up to grab the collar of her jacket. _

_They were interrupted by cheers and hoots from inside the house. _

_Naomi pulled away. "I am actually going to kill them," she growled. _

"_Don't," Emily laughed. "If we kept kissing I'd never be able to make myself leave." And then she blushed like she couldn't quite believe those words had just come out of her mouth. _

_Naomi's heart was a melted puddle of goo by that point. "Sure I can't convince you to come inside?" she asked. "You could have tea and my mother couldn't interrogate you mercilessly." _

"_As tempting as that sounds…" Emily leaned up and kissed her again very quickly. "I should go." _

"_Do you want me to walk you back?" Naomi offered. _

_Emily's eyes lit up with amusement. "Then I'd have to walk you__ back," she said. "It would be the physical version of 'you hang up first'." _

_Naomi laughed. "Okay, I get it," she said. "'Shut up Naomi and let the girl go to work?'" _

"_Shut up Naomi and I'll come visit tomorrow," Emily corrected. She grinned when Naomi made a zipping motion across her lips and mimed throwing away the key. She kissed Naomi's cheek. "Good night, Naoms." _

"_Night Ems," Naomi lifted a hand and waved as she walked away. She watched until Emily turned the corner and then she turned around and ran up the path to her house. She threw open the door and immediately shouted, "All of you are dead!" _

* * *

She was ready to leave. She wanted out _now_, couldn't take being across from him one more second. But something in the back of her mind made her stay. Something in her heart made her want to ask just one more time…

"Whose orders?" she demanded.

Leeds chuckled but he didn't lift his head from where he was quietly doodling on the pad of paper again. "This is over your head," he said, and he sounded every bit like an adult telling a child they were too young to play with the older kids.

"Whose?" she asked again, this time louder.

He shook his head. "Stop trying so hard," he tutted and added a few more lines to his drawing. "There's nothing about what's coming that you can change."

Naomi wasn't sure exactly when her anger had started to replace her fear but it had, quickly thawing the ice in her gut and traveling up to her heart, which had started to race. That spastic light above them was really starting to get on her fucking nerves. It looked ready to go out any second.

"What's coming?" she asked. No matter what his answer was it would be her final question. She was through with him. Through with his cryptic non-answers and through with his games.

The corner of his mouth turned up in a horrible smirk and he ripped the page off his pad of paper and pushed it towards her. Naomi reached out a hand without meaning to and picked it up. It was a crudely drawn crow.

"Why don't you ask your little girlfriend," he suggested.

The light above them finally went out with a loud popping noise and a shower of sparks. Leeds actually jumped and his eyes widened. Then, inexplicably, he started to laugh.

Naomi looked at Guard Zeus and instantly the man pushed himself away from the wall and walked over, his long legs carrying across the entire room in ten steps.

"You're done," he barked at Leeds and motioned for two of the other guards to come collect him. He turned Naomi around and led her out of the room, muttering the whole way about stupid teenage bravado and faulty wiring.

They marched her straight out the door, along the hallway, and out into the main lobby again. She felt like she didn't breath until she was back in the sun again and she almost had a heart attack when someone moved unexpectedly to the right of her.

Emily held up her hands. "I come in peace," she said lightly, but her eyes were serious and worried as they flickered all over Naomi's face.

Naomi relaxed immediately and smiled a genuine smile for the first time all day. "Hey," she said tiredly, all of her energy suddenly draining as the adrenaline went away and her fear disappeared.

"Hey," Emily smiled back. "I wanted to come make sure you were all right and ask if you wanted to grab a late lunch."

There was literally nothing Naomi would rather do at that moment then spend some time with Emily. Emily Fitch, her own personal source of comfort and reassurance.

"That sounds fantastic," Naomi said gratefully. She lifted her hand to tuck a piece of hair away from her face and the note in her hand crinkled. She'd completely forgotten about it.

"What's that?" Emily asked as she moved closer.

Naomi frowned at the note in her hand. "I don't know," she said. "It was something he gave to me before I asked to leave."

"Shouldn't they have taken it from you?" Emily asked.

"Probably," Naomi shrugged. "I honestly forgot about it until just now."

Emily leaned over to get a good look at it and Naomi actually watched as her face dropped in surprise and she snatched the note out of Naomi's hand. "Oh!" she gasped. "Weird."

That hard, icy ball was back in her stomach. What had Leeds said when he handed her the note? _Why don't you ask your little girlfriend? _

"Emily," she said, a little more harshly then she meant to, "do you know what this is?"

Emily blinked in surprise at the sudden change of tone in her voice. "I know what it looks like," she said slowly. Her face was guarded and wary as she took in the look in Naomi's eyes.

"What does it look like?"

The redhead handed the note back to her. "See the way the beak is turned to the left? It looks like the logo for Karma." She pulled her jumper down and Naomi saw the black logo on the white and red shirt that was Emily's work uniform. She must have come straight from work or would be going there afterwards. "Are you okay?"

Naomi studied Emily's face. Her gorgeous, open, concerned, and very confused face.

_Why don't you ask your little girlfriend? _

She looked down at the note in her hand for a long moment, and then very deliberately crumbled it up into a ball and tossed it into the nearest bin.

"I'm fine," she said. She looked up at Emily and smiled. "Just a little shaken up is all. You said something about lunch?"

Emily's smile back was hesitant but grew stronger the longer she searched Naomi's face and didn't find anything wrong. Naomi held out her hand and Emily laced their fingers together and Naomi looked away from the jail without looking back.

* * *

**A/n: Yaaaaaay. I wrote a chapter that explains ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Par for the course, actually. **

**Please don't kill me. Cheers! ~FS**


End file.
